When my heart is overwhelmed

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.  

For you have been my refuge,

 a strong tower against the foe.

 I long to dwell in your tent forever

  and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

(Psalm 61:1-4)

There are many things that overwhelm me. Thoughts of my future, possibilities that may or may not happen, relationship statuses. My mind can turn quickly from a truth filled well into an overwhelmed mess depending on what I am spending time thinking on.  I want my first instinct to be to think of Jesus and his life, the Words of God in the Bible and not my state of helplessness, hopelessness and frailty.

If I have learned anything in the last year it's that to truly be helped, hopeful and strong I must be familiar with His Words so much so that they are the FIRST things that pop into my mind in a time of celebration and especially in times of trouble.

The past 11 months have been roller coaster-ish for me. Some times the dips are severe and sometimes the turns leave me dizzy and sick feeling but everytime I come nearer to hope I long for more. The ride is hard. It's not always comfortable but it always ends in me being closer to God. The flips and the flops of my emotional state can really leave me feeling spiritually confused and not wanting to stand but when God turns me right to where I should be I feel grateful for those ups and downs. ONLY by his Word, though, do I find comfort. Through His Word, I find Him sooner and He ends the dizzying effects of my fleshly emotions about life.  What  should I feel when God doesn't answer my prayers that are full of faith and proclaiming his Word? I learn to have more faith. It is GOOD for me. I am learning more. I move from theoretical faith to real life faith. 

My hope is from Him. I shall not be shaken. He is my rock. My strength. My refuge.

Everything is for his Glory and not for my comfort.

I encourage you to watch this video if you have time. It's sad. It's inspiring and it's a real testimony of people who  lived this out on a much higher level than I am! It's worth a watch!