When my heart is overwhelmed….
The noise in this world is deafening. The hatred we see and hear through the news media and especially social media outlets is just exhausting. On top of the day-to-day noise of the world, there are the emotionally draining relationships that bring a very specific form of exhaustion and even depression that can seriously overwhelm our hearts.
In recent weeks, the Bible passage in Psalm 61:2 has been coming to the forefront of my thinking. I have meditated on it for my own comfort and looked it up in several different Bible translations to try and see what God may be trying to tell me. I was familiar with the King James verse and remember it well as a popular contemporary church song in the 90’s, but it was the Amplified Bible version that resonated with me.
From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed and weak; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I
[a rock that is too high to reach without Your help].
I like this version a lot. When my heart is overwhelmed and weak… I can relate to this so much. I can become so overwhelmed with emotion and concern that I just feel weak and “wrung out” to use a phrase from my Texas roots. My heart has just been feeling “wrung out” like a washcloth that has had every ounce of moisture twisted and drained out of it, and just totally spent of all emotional energy. That is not a pleasant feeling.
So, this passage kept popping up in my mind. When my heart is overwhelmed and weak; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Diving a little deeper into word meanings helps bring clarity, so I did some basic concordance sleuthing. In this passage, the rock is used figuratively as a place of refuge and strength. I envisioned a rocky cliff or similar setting, high above the noise and chaos of life—a place of renewal, like the eagle finding a molting place when it’s time to renew himself.
The thing that I believe God was trying to speak to my heart was to come away with Him; allow Him to take me to a place of strength that I can’t get to by myself, a place I can’t reach without His help. I can’t do this life on my own without God’s help. I need to get away to this place that is higher than I, where I can be refreshed and lifted up, and restored. I am learning how to do this better.
So, how do we get there? One thing that helps me is to have a quiet, peaceful place to go and just be, and sit, and talk to God like He’s my best friend. Let His love soak in and refresh me. Symbolic things also help me get to that place of refreshing. I like to close my eyes and just breathe in and tell God how thankful I am for his goodness and mercy. Thank Him for His love and imagine what it feels like to have peace, refreshing, and God’s restoring love pouring down over me like standing under a soft, gentle waterfall, washing away the stress, anxiety, fear, noise. It’s way better than a bubble bath. That may sound silly but it helps me.
I believe God is ok with us finding our personal love language with Him. It is helpful to have positive, encouraging scripture affirmations handy as well. Find Psalms or other scriptures that mean something to you. Speak them to God and tell Him what He is to you. God, you are my strength and shield, you are the lifter of my head. Thank you for the good future and good plan you have for my life. You have made me more than a conqueror. God, you are enough and you have made me in your image, so I am enough, and I am all that I need to be. Just talk to Him. Let Him lead you to a place of strength that you can't get to by yourself.
