A Promise of Hope When Overwhelmed

The scariest of places is reserved as a mix of the emotions of sadness, fear and surprise.

Unparalleled in human experience is the moment when life renders to experience something very foreign. And although we won’t have a bar of the idea that this is normal, given what’s occurred, because, how could this be normal when I’ve never experienced anything like it before? — it is normal, given what’s happened.

Life overwhelms us to the maximum — and beyond — of our capacity to cope, at least once in life. And we’re wise to allow life to do that, given what’s taken place. Then we find that one time when we’re overwhelmed, that that time becomes a season.

Grief is like that. It takes us out of our own control, even though we fight to remain in control. We may wonder how callous God is to allow such a living torment to take place. Well, what we’ve lost is love; a central part of our identity, psyche, memory, past.

But God is making something very special out of the experiences of being overwhelmed. He is performing open heart surgery and it feels like the anaesthetic has worn off. Some things God wants for us can’t be learned when we’re in control. His will is for us to completely surrender our will for His, and He can only get us there when we’re broken. Being overwhelmed breaks us for a time. But He is putting us back together.

Although it feels harsh, this grief is set to prepare us for future iterations of hardship, in making them more manageable, for grief matures us, though we hate it in the process.

The promise is this: don’t despise the present hardship, for this hardship presents us with the opportunity to grow. God knows we cannot grow unless we’re made by our circumstances to grow. Therefore, surrender is essential for growing in God.