DON'T BE OVERWHELMED.

SUNDAY SERVICE

 SERMON:

               DON'T BE OVERWHELMED.

 INTRO : There are many things that we grow up imagining about our lives. And there are also many things that we grow up imagining about others. We imagine our environment and imagine ourselves. Whenever we don't fit in the "good" environment that we tend to imagine, we feel overwhelmed. And at times we feel depressed.

 PROB : We let our state of being overwhelmed dictate our life.

 PURP: To reassure us that whatever life seems to hold for us , God still thinks good about us.

   >>> Joseph was a God fearing person. He was faithful in the eyes of God. Little did Joseph know that he was hated by all of his brothers. Regardless of him being good, he was not liked by his people. When he got his dream about him being a ruler, no one including his father believed him. He was hated to the extent of being sold into slavery. Imagine, he went into slavery at just 17 years of age. He suffered in the hands of slave traders. He was first thrown into a pit before take into slavery. Even when Joseph got to the king's palace he had several challenges, he was imprisoned for 2 years. He was accused by potipher's wife of rape. It was not until Joseph was 30 years of age when he became a minister in Egypt. Now. Joseph would have thought that why , as a young man would his own brothers throw him into a pit to the extent of selling him into slavery. He would have thought, that why would potiphers wife accuse him of the wrong doing that he didn't do. Joseph probably thought about why he would sufffer in a land that was not his own under the influence of slavery. He was overwhelmed as a young man; but there is something that was still sounding deep within him that kept him going.

* Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

🔶 LIVE YOUR LIFE AT A TIME.

     Many times, we get so anxious about ourselves because we live so much in the future. We look at the future as a big picture that is too big for us to manage. You look at where you think you should be now and look at where you are really at the present and feel overwhelmed. You look at your plans forget about the good things that God has done in your life and feel overwhelmed. You feel emptiness.

One thing we should know is that God has a definite route that He is supposed to take you through to get to the big future that He know you will have. If Joseph was told that he would be a prime minister of Egypt one day and yet he was in prison at the moment, Joseph wouldn't have believed that. He was under fierce pressure from his bosses about his "misbehaving". It was clear that he couldn't see a way to that dream. One thing that Joseph did was to live his life at every time. When he was as a slave in the palace, he was a hard-working man, when he was arrested in prison, he still carried on his life. He interpreted dream to those who needed it. Even when they couldn't talk good about him, he continued with that ministry.

Live your life now. Be happy now. God Will take care of the future. Do what you can now and leave the rest to God to handle. Living your life now is one thing that gives God gap to do all that he supposed to do. 

🔶 HOPE IN THE LORD.

* Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

It is hope that kept Joseph going. He didn't hope in the love that his earthly father gave him. He didn't hope in anyone else. His hopes were with the one who sits on the throne above the earth. The hearts of men are deceptive above all things. The Bible asks, who can understand the heart of men?. Hoping in man is one thing that gives you endless depression. If job put his hopes in his wife, he would have given up. If he had put his hopes in his friends, they would have mislead him. His hopes were on God. Imagine how many years Joseph waited until his dream came to pass. His dream of becoming a prime minister. It was after probably 20, 15 years. All that time , Joseph was still with hopes .

Fears keep us stranded, but hope keeps us moving.

Have you ever imagined a time you were only filled with fears. And that as those fears grow, hope eventually comes. When hope comes, you feel the relief, you feel the inward fulfillment. You feel a release of pressure. Fear lock you, but hope unlocks. Hoping on humans has its own fears, hoping in your family has its own fears. Hoping in you boss has its own fears; the boss could throw you out of the company if he or she decided to. Your family could easily turn against you at the moment you need them most. Your friends could let you down at the time you need them most. But God your heavenly father can't let you down at the time you need him most. He will be there for you. The king Nebuchadnezzar loved Daniel so much, but he could not defend him at the last moment. Jacob loved Joseph very much but he could not protect him when Joseph needed him. Hoping in earthly materials will facilitate depression the more. 

Just look up. Look to heaven. Your real help is in heaven. God is your real hope. If there is one thing that you invest in alot of energy to secure a future of Peace and security when you need it, it should be God your father. He can't let you down.

🔶 PATIENCE PAYS OFF.

   Many times, because things take too long to happen to us, we feel so much pressured and we loose direction. Many persons in the Bible have been seen as people who waited for a long time till what they wanted, happened.

Let me just tell you a little funny thing. A man asked God. "God, what is it like a million years to you.?" God answered, " a million years is like a second to me." And the man asked," but what is like a million dollars to you?" God answered, " a million dollars to me is like a penny." The man said,." Could you please give me only a penny?" God answered, " just give me a second my son" That was mind blowing. A second to God is a million years and that meant that the man would wait for a million years to get a million dollars(which is the penny). Sounds funny.

The best of the things of nature take time to happen...at given constant factors. You cannot cheat of the natural time of things. What you think you should be at this time that you think you are not, the time is yet to come . Peacefulness is one thing that is developed through patience. People who are said to be peaceful are those that have practiced patience. If you want ultimate peace...just go the way of patience. Just wait and wait and wait. Overcoming overwhelmness needs you to develop a peaceful mind.

🔶 DON'T UNECESSARILY COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS.

   Because of the increasing levels of social media and drama, we have developed a social sickness of comparison. You come across a number of personalities on social media at a very small time and that overwhelms you. You compare to see if you fit in such classes. You compare to see of you fit in such personalities.

Comparison is one thing that has caused depression in most of the developed countries. A study has shown that 64% of users who spend four hours or more per day on social media experience depression. And much of this depression is due to comparison effects.

You are who you are. Social models are what they are. They have weaknesses that they will not keep telling you. You too have your own weaknesses and strengths. Comparison makes us to feel emptiness. God is not looking at someone else better than the who you are. What he made you into is good to him as well as for someone else. You have been made whole. Whether wealth at poverty, there is good person in you. If you think someone has gone past you in terms of wealth, then know that their timeline is different from yours. Your turn for it will also come. Be at peace

🔶 GOD HIMSELF IS IN CONTROL.

* Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

 * Romans 8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

     There is nothing that God cares more about than those that love and hope in Him. His eyes are always on them. His plans for them are steadfast. He never lets them go hungry. He never lets them be consumed by fire. Shedrach, Meshach, and abdnego were faithful to God. They never gave up on God regardless of the circumstances. God also never gave up on them. God came to rescue them when they needed Him the most. God's eyes were on them. God's ears were attentive to the prayera. He never let them down. There is a Royalty, a sonship that is deep within you that makes you a relative to God. God looks at that within you and thinks about you. 

The battle is the Lord's and the victory is ours. When the Israelites approached the red Sea, they thought that it was all upon them to see to it that they cross the might waters. They had quickly forgotten that it was God who had been fighting for them all along. Moses had his full hope in the Lord. Moses prayed to God. The answer was not "try to fight, try to figure out, try to move...." . The answer was, " stand still still..." ,and see the deliverance God has for you today. He told told them that the Battle was God's and the victory was theirs.

It is God who is the driver. It is Him who is the masterplanner. There is nothing that goes through your life that God has no idea about. Whatever sorrows that have and are going through your life, God knows them. His plans is to bring you ultimate peace. His plans is to take you to a future that you think you need ...one that is good for you and for Him. Just stand still and relax.

CONCLUSION

⚫ Whatever it is , Good or bad, sorrows or happiness; God's word in your life will surely come to pass. 

⚫ God knew you before you were born. Do you know what that means? It means that you know less about yourself than what God knows about you. So just leave it all to Him to control. He is indeed in control like the scripture has told us.

⚫ Stand still and God's deliverance will surely come to pass

 GOD BLESS YOU.

By Simon Kutosi.

Sunday 16th, July 2023.

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