Being overwhelmed is really scary. I remember being caught in a wave as a young boy. I was being tumbled, pushed, rolled and held under. I didn’t know which way was up or down, and I could not control my movement. The really frightening part was that I felt like I was running out of air, and I couldn’t get to the surface to get more. Recently I experienced an overwhelming life event.

I went to the home of a former student, a young person, who had suffered many severe, life-threatening illnesses during her life. Her husband and family were amazing throughout the battles she fought, in and out of the hospital. They truly expressed the love and hope and support you would hope to have if you were in a similar situation. The young woman herself was an amazing gift of caring, packaged in a small frame. She had been my friend since she entered my class as a high school student. Her family also became my friends through her. I arrived at her house shortly after she had died.

The dimensions and power of this event where overwhelming and years in the making. The cost of keeping her alive and giving her life was an expense paid in time, sacrifice, and unrestrained giving at every level. She left behind a husband and two children. All of the commitment, all of the love, all of the sacrifice, all the hopes and dreams, and life and death seemed to be tumbling like a giant wave, larger than any and all of us, carrying us along beyond any of our abilities to control it, grasp it, or reestablish any sense of normal. We were overwhelmed. Uncontrollable death had shattered the city of illusions we had built in our hearts and minds.

There was a thread within this physical, emotional, and psychological tsunami, God’s thread. God’s life and love is a thread which can not be severed by death or any other force. His presence only becomes stronger when we surrender the boundaries of physical life on this planet. The sad thing is that we often do not realize how strong and present He is, always and everywhere. We can see Jesus and His life in moments like life tsunamis because we are overwhelmed and have to surrender our ability to create order to His ability to rule over heaven and earth. We come to an end of ourselves and find that the thread of His love is more than enough to keep us tied to Him. The wave will pass over and around us, but His love will never fail and never be overcome.

The best in life is not waiting for the tsunami. The best is to grow in Jesus now, before being overwhelmed, allowing Him to build a protective cover around us with His thread, converting the threat of death to the promise of life. He transforms the giant suffering of this life into temporary discomfort which is experienced in the presence of His greater joy. Jesus is life, now and eternally. This world threw all the horrors humanity has to offer at Jesus. He was not overwhelmed or overcome. He paid for and gave us that gift – His victory. We are loved beyond our greatest understanding. Jesus is life.