What do I do when I feel overwhelmed?

“When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2

When King David felt “overwhelmed” by his circumstances and feelings, he turned to the Lord (“Hear my cry, O God” – v. 1) to “lead” him to “the rock that is higher than” he was (61:2) because God had proven to be “a shelter” and “strong tower” for him in the past (61:3). A rock was a symbol of stability, security, and strength.

When we feel overwhelmed with life we may say to ourselves – “This is more than I can handle. I cannot go on.” What do we do in these situations? Where do we turn for help when we feel overwhelmed? Some of us may turn to a bottle of alcohol, a brief romantic relationship, a shopping spree, a busy schedule, or to a dark space in the corner of our minds to escape the overwhelming circumstances or feelings we are facing. 

This is not what King David did. David turned to the One who could lead him above his overwhelming circumstances and feelings and give him stability (“rock”), security (“shelter”), and strength (“strong tower”) instead (61:2-3). 

During my 20’s, God enabled me to climb several 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado. Often times when I reached the 12,000-foot range, my head would be throbbing from altitude sickness and I would be overwhelmed with fatigue. The temptation for me at that point was to turn around and go back down the mountain. What helped me to keep going upward was focusing on the Lord and the next rock above me, remembering God’s faithfulness on past climbs to help me reach those summits.  

When we feel overwhelmed and we are tempted to give up, let’s do what David did, and look to the Lord to lead us to a secure place that we could never reach on our own. Recalling God’s faithfulness to be our “rock,” “shelter” and “strong tower” in the past, can increase our confidence in Him to be our stability, security and strength in the present.