What to Do when You Feel Overwhelmed
Jeremy Walker serves as a pastor of Maidenbower Baptist Church in Crawley, England, and is married to Alissa, with whom he enjoys the blessing of three children. He has authored several books, and is grateful to preach, teach, and write as opportunity provides.
This post is adapted from Jeremy’s new 50-day devotional, A Word in Season: 50 Days of Hope for Hard Times. Click here to order your copy today: A Word in Season
Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Psalm 61:1–2
It may be that, over the course of the last few days, you have felt somewhat overwhelmed or overcome. Of course, I cannot know what might have prompted that in your case. It may be that you feel that your general circumstances seem more than you can manage. Perhaps it is the pressure of a new situation and new demands in it. Perhaps it is the fact that you have been unwell, or you fear you are getting unwell, or you know someone who is unwell. Death may seem nearer than you had ever imagined it might be. If you are a Christian, perhaps you have been cut off from the means of grace. You might feel as if you are out of the loop. Today, tomorrow, the coming week ... What lies ahead may seem to be looming before you. You are not quite sure where to begin.
Listen, then, to what David wrote in Psalm 61: “Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” We do not know precisely under what circumstances David wrote those words. We do know that he felt alone and apart—he was at the very ends of the earth, and his heart was overwhelmed within him. He felt as if he were about to go under. That may be how you feel now.
David’s response was one of trust in God: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” You will notice in this that he is entirely dependent upon God, that the Lord would save him and bring him to a place of safety. That place of safety is a high rock, a place where he can be safe from all the billows that are going over his soul. He is asking that God would raise him to a place of peace and serenity and safety, that there his soul would be able to rest in peace. The old Bible commentator Matthew Henry said of this verse, “We should therefore by faith and prayer put ourselves under the divine management, that we may be taken under the divine protection.”
You may still feel overwhelmed at this moment; you may feel overwhelmed in days to come. What should our response be as we face challenges that we may never have faced before, things that burden our souls? When our souls are overwhelmed within us, we need to ask God to lead us to the rock that is higher than we are. For a few reading these words, it may be the first time you have ever really done that. You have run out of other options. You do not know where else or to whom else you can go. I assure you of this: You can go to the Lord Jesus Christ. You can go to the God of heaven and earth. You can trust in him. You can call upon him. He will save you, and he will keep you.
Perhaps you are a Christian, and this will be the umpteenth time that you have done this, and yet here you are again! Here are new challenges, and once more, you feel your soul is overwhelmed. Now is the time to cry to the God of your salvation, “Lead me again to the rock that is higher than I!” We are so very weak. We are very frail. We are easily fearful. But God is mighty. God is merciful. He is good to all who call upon him. Let us call upon him, then, in these and coming days. Every time you feel as if you are about to be swallowed up by fears and troubles, cry out to the Lord, and he will lead you to the rock that is higher than you, and higher than all your distresses.