Overwhelmed

You know how sometimes you get an opportunity and you are just excited because it is something you love to do?  That is usually the way I feel when a book comes my way to review.  I was especially excited when asked a few weeks ago to review Perry Noble’s new book, Overwhelmed…anyone else seeing any irony in this? Little did I know, my world would fall apart almost as soon as I receive the review copy. Anyway, I have been reading and plugging along through this book and wondering about God’s real sense of humor when it comes to me (yeah, I do think I am THAT important and my life is part of His personal comedy hour.)

The thing is, I normally would have read this book in probably one or two sittings, but because of what I was going through and being….wait for it…overwhelmed, I had to read, digest, pray, repeat...read, digest, pray, repeat (you get the idea.)  I had to repeat not because it is a hard read but because I was just struggling with the fact that this book was written for me…for just a time as this.  The full title is Overwhelmed, Winning the War Against Worry and if you have been reading my blog as of late you are probably rolling in the floor laughing, laughing, laughing. 

This is a book written by a Pastor, no less, who actually admits to being anxious, worried, stressed, in despair and here is the big one…depressed.  Can you imagine???  Isn’t it a complete prerequisite to being a Christian that we avoid these non-Christian emotions at all cost???  I know I wish that were the case, because I would be on that boat in a New York minute.  There are so many passages in this book I wish I could share and so many that hit me smack in between my eyes (and not in a pleasant way to be sure.)  I was in the process of reading this book as my husband ended our marriage and overwhelmed is probably an understatement but so many things made sense to me because of Overwhelmed and Perry Noble’s personal perspective. 

Some major clarity came to me in this passage, “I once heard someone say that when we rationalize, we tell “rational lies.” Your line of thinking may go something like this:  …The world is always going to pressure us to bow to something other than God because we feel that when we do we are in control. But in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.” (Overwhelmed, Perry Noble 2014.)  I realized that someone I loved dearly was rationalizing their (and my) entire life and managing to tell “rational lies” to themselves and others.  It was a hard, hard reality check…but it was true.  It made me hurt and it made me hurt for them, knowing that they were lying to themselves more than anyone else and no matter how much they “rationalized” it still wasn’t God’s truth and I could be confident in that fact. 

Noble reminds me repeatedly to question “Will we focus on the size of our problem or the size of our God? The reality is, we can’t do both….And we really do have an enemy who is trying to keep us imprisoned. Jesus said Satan is the father of lies (see John 8:44) and that the enemy’s goal is to steal, kill, and destroy us (see John 10:10). He will attack our minds, trying to get us to focus on all the things we have no control over.” (Overwhelmed, Perry Noble 2014.) 

I need to hear over and over, “One of the most powerful lies the enemy will whisper to you in your darkest times is that you are all alone – that no one wants to hear what you are going through and you should just give up.  But life isn’t meant to be lived alone! Even Jesus didn’t do life alone.  If you are struggling with anxiety, fear, worry, and doubt you need to understand a few things:  You are not the only one who has had to battle this tough situation...Even though the storm you are experiencing is intense, He is greater than your storm.” (Overwhelmed, Perry Noble 2014.) 

Very rarely to I feel like a book is written for everyone but this one is a rare gem.  It will be released on April 1, 2014. I can guarantee you won’t come away from the pages of this book unchanged.