When You Feel Overwhelmed

When You Feel Overwhelmed

Mother’s Day 2022

I want to start off today’s conversation, ‘When You Feel Overwhelmed,’ with some words to a song that David sang to the Lord after He had delivered David from all of his enemies including from the hand of Saul.

We find it in 2 Samuel 22 (Psalm 18)

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—from violent people you save me.

“I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. “In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. – 2 Samuel 22:2-7

Prayer

NOW – we are currently in a series on The Gospel of Matthew… specifically unpacking the 8 beatitudes that are the intro to the Sermon on the Mount, His radical counter culture manifesto of what life in His kingdom is all about, but we are going to jump out of this series and ask Jesus’ mom (Mary) to give us some advice on what we need to do whenever we are feeling overwhelmed.

Those times when like David it feels like: the waves of death and the torrents of destruction and distress are swirling around us… Those times when we are overwhelmed and we need a place of refuge, a rock and stronghold we can cling.

QUESTION – anyone feeling a little overwhelmed this morning?

NOW - a lot of things can overwhelm us. Grief, guilt, grudges, worry can overwhelm us, responsibilities, circumstances…

AGAIN – today Mother’s Day 2022 we want to invite Jesus’ mom (Mary) into our conversation to share what she learned 2000 years about what to do when you are feeling overwhelmed.

QUESTION – moms have you ever found being a mom to be at times a little bit overwhelming?

AND LISTEN – though this conversation was birthed with the hope of encouraging moms… It is also my hope this morning that our conversation will bring a little hope and encouragement to anyone in this room, watching online, or standing on this platform who is just feeling overwhelmed this morning…

OKAY – let’s do this… Luke 1:26

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.

Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! – Luke 1:26-30

UNDERSTAND – at the time Mary was probably around 13 or 14 years old.. a Middle School aged girl.

LIKE – an 8th grader or a Freshman in HS.

SO – the angel Gabriel shows up one day to this young teenage girl and tells her…

• That she is highly favored by God

• That God is going to bless her life

And the blessing, ‘Mary even though you are not married, and have never been with a man, you are going to become pregnant… and the baby inside of you will be… will be God.

QUESTION - how would you react to that kind of news?

LIKE – if you were Mary would you be feeling a little overwhelmed?

OKAY – I’m not too sure I am liking this ‘God’s favor’ is on me thing. YEAH – Mary is probably thinking…

• How in the world am I going to explain this one?

• LIKE - who in the world is going to believe me?”

• She’s thinking, “How do I say this: ‘Hey, Joseph, guess what? I’m pregnant, but it’s not what you think.’”

• NO - I don’t think she was too excited about that.

• “How can I tell this to my parents?

• Mom, Dad… I’m pregnant but the father is God.”

Right, honey!

YEAH – talk about being overwhelmed.

• What am I going to do.

• Joseph is going to be so hurt, so angry and probably leave me.

• My parents are going to doubt me and maybe disown me for bringing shame to our family

• The community is going to disgrace me.

• My reputation is shot.

• Seriously, could it get any worse? God favor on me…

AGAIN - she’s just a young teenage girl… Middle School aged. The Bible says she is confused and disturbed. In other words, she is overwhelmed with fear. I MEAN…