How many times do you feel overwhelmed by life? There is too much going on to handle, your heart is heavy, and you can’t see an easy way out. Sometimes it may even seem like it would be easier to walk away from it all and start fresh somewhere else. Sometimes our lives can feel a bit like we are drowning. We struggle to get our heads above the water, we are gasping for air, and can’t help ourselves.
As Christians, how do we respond in these kinds of moments? Paul gives us an excellent answer in Philippians 3:20-21. When life is too much for us to handle, we keep our eyes fixed on a better life to come.
We will dwell with him forever! What a glorious thought.
In these two verses, we learn that we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. After his resurrection, Christ ascended to heaven so that he could prepare a place where we can join him. There, we will dwell with him forever. Think about Jesus’ words:
John 14:1–4 (ESV)
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”
We will dwell with him forever! What a glorious thought.
But in Philippians 3, also notice that Jesus will transform our bodies to be like his body. In other words, he will give us bodies that are free from sin and pain.
Depression? Sickness? Anxiety? Sinful Anger? All of it is gone when we are made new by Jesus Christ. Again, what a glorious thought.
So how do we respond when we are overwhelmed by our lives? At the moment we feel like we are drowning in the chaos of our lives, we must think about the two things that we need: (1) a person who is willing to rescue us, and (2) a person who is able to rescue us. Thanks be to God, Jesus Christ is both.
In fact, he is the only one who can rescue us. In John 14: 6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
For more thoughts on this passage, Check out Pastor Shawn’s sermon: https://fbcnewhamburg.com/media/sermons/