Overwhelmed by Need

Have you ever just simply been overwhelmed by need?

I’m not talking about your own need, though that alone can be heavy enough.

I’m talking about other people’s needs – people you know, people you love, or people you may casually meet at church or at work.

Believe me, I don’t go looking for need, but it seems to find me everywhere I turn. Take for example the woman I just heard about facing a new cancer diagnosis while her husband juggles the 3 young kids at home. Or the friend who just lost her unemployment and hasn’t had any luck finding a job in over 2 years. Or the gal whose house just burnt down, leaving nothing but her faith erect.

The weight of the burdens threatens to crush me, and my natural response is to turn the radio on just a little bit louder, or run just a little bit faster.

But Jesus didn’t run. He didn’t close His eyes, or turn His head. He didn’t avert His gaze or glaze over the details pelleted at him faster than a hail storm in Texas.

I love the words of Matthew 9:36. It says “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

“But I’m not Jesus”, you may be telling yourself. “I would do something, if I could”. “I’m barely holding up my own self, how in the world do you expect me to help others?”

Could Jesus really have meant what He said in John 14:12? “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”

Did He really mean those words?

Did He honestly mean that we – you and I – would be able to do greater works than His?

How in the world could that be? If you’re like me you gloss over verses like that one because it just seems too….preposterous….too unbelievable….too…divine.

But over the years a few Christians have understood the words of Christ. Like for example the early church in Antioch. When faced with a great need Acts 11:29 says that “the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul”.

If the Christians in Antioch refused to be overwhelmed by great need, don’t you think we can do the same?

Let me give you 4 thoughts to consider when facing overwhelming need:

1. You can’t do anything until you know about it. Here’s a challenge for you as we begin 2012. Turn your ears on. Listen to people. Hear their stories. Stop focusing on your own problems and get a sense of other people’s need. That’s a great place to start.

2. You can’t do everything but you can do something. I love the heart of the Christians in Antioch. It says that “everyone did according too his ability”. Grant it, I’m not Bill Gates, and as much as I would love to cure the world of malaria, I’ll have to leave that to Bill. But just because I can’t cure malaria doesn’t mean I can’t help support a kid who may have malaria. You get the point. Do the part you can. Be creative within the context of your life. Every little bit helps.

3. You can’t provide for everyone but you can provide for someone. Hey the world is big. I mean really big. Don’t make the mistake of lumping needy people in a faceless bucket. Trust me – I’m somewhere in that bucket too. All God requires of you is faithfulness right where He has placed you.

4. You don’t have to do anything when you know the one who can do everything. The secret of John 14:12 is in the last phrase: Because I am going to the Father. We can count on Jesus because He is seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us. We can do nothing on our own, but Christ can do all things through us. I’m determined to take every need that overwhelms me and lay it at the feet of Jesus because I know that He alone can resolve every situation – no matter how complicated it seems. Now that is something!

Think about how our lives would look differently if we really believed that God can do what He says He can do.

And to think He uses ordinary folks like us to meet those needs.

Now that, my friend, truly overwhelms me!

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