If you have been to the grocery store, the gas station, a restaurant, Walmart, etc. lately, I am sure you have noticed how prices have increased. Some families are beginning to feel the pinch and sting of such escalated prices. Have you also noticed that the content of many items in stores have been reduced, but the cost remains the same? I hear families say they are budgeting better, eating out less, and limiting their spending. Many people who have been home for the last two years teleworking have saved on having to go to the office, now gas prices are above $4.00 a gallon and continuously rising. Perhaps the best word for some folk is overwhelmed.

We become overwhelmed by not only economics, but other personal dilemmas we have to face on a daily basis.       

But one thing that I do know is this, in spite of all that is going on around us that we do not understand, just know that God remains constant. God’s faithfulness in meeting our needs is the same today as it was before 2020. Even though we may feel that there are limited resources, God is not limited. Reflect on how God sustained thousands of Israelites with daily manna. Jesus also told Peter to extract money for taxes from the mouth of a fish. Matthew 17:24-27. Jesus also took five loaves of bread and fed 5,000 people.

A passage of scripture that provides assurance in this regard is Jeremiah 17: 5-8: “My God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.”  Because of God’s faithfulness, we can say that we are fruitful and not barren; prosperous and not wanting. We may feel overwhelmed, but we must remember that we are overcomers.

We must never limit God’s ability to turn the worst situation into something productive and positive.

If you are feeling a little overwhelmed today, ask God to reveal to you what He is doing in your life and what He desires to do for you as a result of your being overwhelmed. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4 :16      

Secondly, just remember that whatever we are going through, it is temporary. Our God never changes. He is just, faithful, loving and we can depend on Him to be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Hebrews 13: 6-8 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God said, “Never will I leave you or forsake you.”      

Thirdly, we must remain faithful and surrender totally to God. When we are in a position to say we are truly yours Lord and no one or anything else can lay claim to us, it pleases God.

We may be at a point in our lives that we are broken in some way. Maybe the pain and the thought of having to face our challenges are so great that we are losing our focus.

It takes courage and strength to overcome our feelings of being overwhelmed. We are reminded by the apostle Paul that when we are in our struggles, we are to be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. He says in Philippians 4:19-20, “My God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God be glory forever and ever.”  

Prayer for today: God we become confused sometimes when we don’t understand what is happening in our lives and around us. We begin to feel overwhelmed, but our faith in you causes us to become overcomers. Amen!

Not a sermon, just my thoughts!

Robert Earl Slade, Pastor