Overwhelming. The official definition is “very great in amount, very strong.” This could be positive or negative. Or both. We do not often like to be overwhelmed. It is an uncomfortable state to be in. Yet it is a state we often find ourselves in. A man I would say is the perfect example of overwhelmed is Job.
An Overwhelmed Man
We encounter Job in a book titled after his name. Job was “blameless and upright” and absolutely loaded. In Job 1, we read that he overflowed with cattle and servants. He was blessed with many children and they often feasted together. His life was good.
But in an instant, it is all taken away. His children are tragically killed in an accident, his cattle are slaughtered or stolen, and his servants die along with them. Then he falls ill, blistering sores covering his skin. To make matters worse, his wife and friends provide no comfort but accuse him of deserving all this pain because “he must have done something wrong.” Overwhelming circumstances.
Throughout these events, Job understands God is sovereign. He knows that “if [God] withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land” (Job 12:15). Why was God overwhelming him? Was God for him or against him? Does God know how to run the universe well? Is God good? Overwhelming questions.
The sovereignty of God makes the pain of loss sharper. The conviction that God is sovereign leads to as author Christopher Ash says “that it is God who is in some sense doing the hurting” (cite). Job feels the depths of pain. Yes, he worships right after the tragedies (Job 1:20, 2:10). But he also cries out,
Why did I not die at birth,
Come out from the womb and expire?
Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
For then I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept; then I would have been at rest (Job 3:11-13)
His choice to worship did not keep him from experiencing the crushing, crippling, heart-shattering agony of losing family, material possessions, health, and friends, knowing that the God you love could have put a stop to it. Overwhelming pain.
An Overwhelmed Girl
If I could describe my first year at college in one word it would be overwhelming.
Overwhelming disappointment as I did not get to attend my “dream school.” Overwhelming sadness and fear as I made the transition to college life. Overwhelming anxiety over balancing school and social life, making new friends, and staying connected with my friends and family back home. Overwhelming frustration over the mistakes I kept making. Overwhelming weariness as it felt that I would never get to rest. Overwhelming pain and questions as I experienced my own losses in life.
It felt as if I was trying to stay afloat in a turbulent ocean. This is actually the Bible’s way of describing the state of overwhelm. When the author of Psalm 88 is in “the depths of the pit” (6), he cries out to God saying, “Your wrath lies heavy upon me and you overwhelm me with all your waves” (7). He knew God was sovereign. Just like Job, he knew God was allowing the overwhelming waves to flood him.
This is not an analogy we are unfamiliar with. We often say we are drowning in work or school or life. When a loved one dies, a friend leaves, our boss fires us, school and work pile on, lies are told about us, our finances crash, the overwhelming weight seems to squeeze out our breath just like the pressure of the ocean.
How do we deal with these overwhelming waves? With Someone more overwhelming.
An Overwhelming God
I know that you can do anything
and no one can stop you.
You asked, “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?”
It is I–and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,
things far too wonderful for me…
now I have seen you with my own eyes.
I take back everything I said,
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.
(Job 42:3-6).
Job was overwhelmed by God. God walked him through the creation of the world, the depths of nature, and the intricacies of the universe.
God holds a Wisdom only He can attain, a kind no man can ever comprehend (Job 28:12-23). He knows exactly where the animals go to eat and live (Job 39:1-4). God has a purpose in every aspect of life, nothing is random or meaningless, even when we cannot see it (Job 28:24-27). He provides food for every creature, not one goes unnoticed (38:39-41). He is stronger and more powerful than any evil (Job 41:10). He draws the boundaries of the sky and sea, ensuring they do not go past where He instructs them to (Job 38:8-11). God has no rival, no evil can overwhelm Him (Job 41:1-10). He rules and is sovereign over all (Job 41:11).
Job recognized that this God is far more overwhelming than the waves of life, far more overwhelming than his circumstances, far more overwhelming than his questions, far more overwhelming than his pain.
Yet, an aspect of God that Job did not get to see and One that outweighs them all, God’s heart in the flesh– Jesus. Jesus went through life’s difficulties and took on the overwhelming punishment for our failures, our sins. Jesus alone experienced the depths of human sorrow. He was utterly forsaken by God (Matthew 27:46). He was overwhelmed by darkness (Psalm 22:11-18). Why? So that we would not have to be. He took the punishment we deserved so that we could live free and experience the overwhelming presence of a good, sovereign God (John 3:16-17). And because Jesus has walked through the most overwhelming and deepest of waters, He can walk through every wave with us (Isaiah 43:2). His presence overwhelms the waves.
So join me. Come and experience along with me the overwhelming joy, peace, power, comfort, love, and goodness of the presence of Jesus. His presence does not always negate or remove the pain, questions, or circumstances. But it does overwhelm it. I pray that as we learn more about God together, we like Job are completely overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed 