Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" Matthew 8:24-25

We feel overwhelmed at times. A storm at sea, a blinding blizzard, a tornado, an earthquake -- any of these can make us feel weak and helpless. But often it's other things that overwhelm us.

We get tired running around. We want to stop and catch our breath but can't. Some things looked so simple at first and so much fun: getting married, raising children, starting a new job. Then suddenly there we are -- overwhelmed. We never dreamed it would be like this. When you add grief, pain, loneliness, frustration, and anger, the things that overwhelm us seem legion.

"Jesus was sleeping." We think: If the Lord had been alert, it would not have happened. Unless we see Him standing there and doing something, we tremble. The winds and waves are too much for us. We cannot bear to have Jesus silent.

As a matter of fact, the Lord is often silent. Rare indeed are the times when He moves right in like a conquering hero. Why? Because whatever towers above us or threatens within us cannot hurt us. It will not overwhelm us. He is with and in us, and we in Him. The very grave could not contain Him. When this truth begins to overwhelm us, other things cannot.

PRAYER: Father, overwhelm me with Your love and power. Amen.

(Taken from "Words of Promise," copyright 1996 (out of print), Concordia Publishing House. For information on other devotional materials, call 1-800-325-3040.)

Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 87-88    1 Corinthians 12

To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"