A fine pro player was traded for two good ones plus five first-round draft picks, All this was done just to improve the chances that an even more coveted superstar would join the first pro on this same new team. It worked. It was unprecedented, an overwhelming blockbuster move. 

Indeed, the NBA landscape felt a seismic shift. LA got two earthquakes, with tremors felt as far away as Oklahoma City and Toronto. The Board Man got paid, and many of us got taken. 

What have you personally found overwhelming in life? Has it been success or significance (or lack thereof)? Has it been disappointment like disaster, disease, injury? How about school, business, competition? 

Have relationships like marriage, parenting, friendships and social media been crushers? Or have any of these been overwhelming: finances, lust, regret, sin, guilt, shame?

Ezekiel chapter 3 paints a picture of a man overwhelmed by three great things:

THE SPIRIT OF GOD: The Spirit spoke, challenged, coached, fed, moved and empowered Ezekiel. It overwhelmed him. 

This kind of overwhelming always turns out for good. Gotta go with Spirit flow no matter what. Let the Spirit overwhelm. Let the Spirit win. 

THE FIGHT TO OBEY: Ezekiel was tasked by God to do something hard, bearing an unwelcome, unpopular message that many would not understand or support. The call to obedience can overwhelm.

The fight is real. The rewards though are great. Let obedience to God overwhelm. 

A GREAT SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY: God made it clear to Ezekiel that he was responsible for others, not just himself. What he chose to do would affect others and himself way more than he thought. This level of responsibility is overwhelming without God’s support. 

God indeed calls people to next-level living that beautifully overwhelms. He overwhelms us with His Spirit, with a call to tough-minded obedience no matter what, and with a sense of responsibility for more than just ourselves. 

Reflect: How much playing time is God’s Spirit getting in your life? Is He feeding, directing, guiding you daily? (Overwhelming confidence and joy follows the Spirit-led life.)

Where are you struggling to obey God? (Do it and get a great win.) Where does your sense of responsibility for others need greater expression? (Let great responsibility for others deeply, beautifully overwhelm you.)

A prayer to consider: Father, I get overwhelmed by staggering tasks, minutia, finances, dysfunctional relationships, disappointments and self-absorption. Deliver me from these things, I pray. 

May Your Holy Spirit overwhelm me instead, helping me express brave obedience and a greater sense of responsibility for the souls and welfare of others. Just like Ezekiel, just like Jesus, I pray. Amen.