overwhelmed by ?

If we wanted to look at the miracles in these two readings, there are plenty:

Elijah being woken by an angel, and fed, twice

God coming to Elijah in the silence

Jesus walking on water

Peter walking on water

The wind calmed as Jesus and Peter get into the boat

This morning I want us to think about another aspect of these two readings:

·    In the gospel, we have the disciples in a boat when a storm comes. These men are fisherman, so a storm is scary, but not as terrifying as a person walking on water. Peter steps out of the boat, and walks on the water, until … he notices the wind and waves

·    Elijah is running away after threats to his life. But when does God speak to him:

o  Twice through and angel and food

o  Then in a gentle breeze, or some translations have a still small voice or silence.

o  And tells him to go back and continue the work God has given him to do.

In both of these stories, there is fear and when God/Jesus speaks and acts, a sense of calm is restored.

Looking at the world around us, and it seems that there is much to fear, chaos is everywhere:

Kim Jong-un in North Korea

Donald Trump in the USA

with their threats of nuclear war

Race hate marches in the US

unrest in Venezuela

continuing violence in various parts of the world

and natural disasters:

earthquakes

landslides

floods and droughts

At times, it seems like life is out to get us.

Elijah’s life was threatened

Peter starting drowning

I am sure we can all think of things that clamour for our attention:

As well as the news headlines, there are often more personal issues:

Health

Family

Finances

It is easy to be overwhelmed at times,

·    by the list of things that concern us and our family and friends

·    by the needs in our community

o  homelessness

o  domestic violence

o  drug addiction

o  loss of hope

o  underemployment

·    and the issues nationally and internationally

o  refugees

o  war

o  slavery

o  racism

o  poverty

o  hunger

o  child mortality

o  and on and on

as much as we would like to change things,

·    for our friends to be healthy,

·    for everyone to have a safe place to live,

·    for children to be educated

·    for people to have adequate work

·    for violence and war and poverty to cease

we feel unable to influence these issues.

It is easy for us to feel we are on our own, and out of our depth.

But we are not on our own. And I am not only talking about God being present with us.

Elijah thought he was the only one who remained loyal to God, but we read that seven thousand Israelites refused to worship Baal. Elijah is not on his own.

Peter left the disciples in the boat, but ended up back in the boat.

One of the advantage of support groups, is that you find out you are not the only person in the area with:

·    a child with a drug addiction

·    a partner with depression

·    a problem with gambling

When we work together we can help people who are homeless, offer support to those who are ill, listen to people who feel that no-one cares about their situation. We won’t have all the resources to deal with every problem in our area, but we do have the resources to make a difference.

Remember the Gospel reading from last week, the disciples wanted to send the crowd away to get their own food. The disciples could not see a way to fed everyone, they were overwhelmed by the size of the task.

But Jesus said, just wait a minute, you can do this.

…

These two passages all remind me that fear and worry can cloud our judgement and make it harder for us to be aware of God in our lives.  

For Elijah God wasn’t in the earthquake, wind or fire, but in the silence or gentle breeze.

For Peter, he started to sink when he stopped focussing on Jesus and started focusing on the waves around him.

I am not suggesting we ignore the difficulties in life. The problem isn’t being aware of what is going on around us, and Jesus never avoided the complications and difficulties around him.

But when we start focussing on the difficulties of life,
when we see what we cannot do, rather then what we can do,
we will continue to be overwhelmed,
and wonder where God is in all of the chaos.

For me, there are plenty of days when I wonder what is going on, the to-do list multiplies, the desk gets messier, and my brain gets foggier. I know what I need to do:

Make a space for me away from the lists and deadlines and

Take a few minutes to check in with God and to breathe

As this quote says: the question is not, “Does God speak?” the question is, “are you listening?”

Some people will read that quote as God speaking with a human type voice. I do believe that God guides us.

There are times when I need to rewrite something, because when I read it, my gut knots up, or my heart feels sad. At times, I have had to write something that I knew was likely to be contentious, but when I reread it, and intentionally sat with God, there was a sense of calmness. But it usually requires me to focus on God, rather than what I think I should be writing.

Life can feel overwhelming, and we can wonder, where is God in all this.

When we focus on God, the source of all life,

And on Jesus, the one who showed us how to live,

And on the Holy Spirit, who guides our way

we are more likely

• ·    to know the peace and grace of God
• ·    to follow Jesus in caring
• ·    and to allow the Holy Spirit to transform our lives