Rosemary was the kind of person who would get easily overwhelmed. If there was a lot “on her plate” or if she was presented with something problematic, she would start to panic and wasn’t sure what to deal with first. But over the years she learned something that proved time and time again to be helpful. She would call her friend Rob, who was really good at sorting out problems and prioritizing tasks. Rob had a calming effect, and by the end of the conversation Rosemary was looking at things differently than before she made the phone call.

Rob just had this great way of helping Rosemary put things in perspective and see that her life was not as terrible as she thought it was. He would remind her that she had much to be grateful for. Rob was methodical and explained things in a way that made sense and was very practical. There were also many occasions where Rob would “talk Rosemary off the ledge” so to speak. Rosemary knew that it wasn’t good for her to try and solve her problems on her own. She needed help with sorting everything in the right way.

I tell this simple little story to set the stage for the encounter between John the Baptist and Jesus that was described for us in John’s Gospel. Listen to the opening sentence: “John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me’”.

John the Baptist is really saying, “Here’s the One who will solve our problems and sort everything out for us. Here’s the One who will give us all a new purpose and pave the way for our Salvation. Now that Jesus is on the scene, we can all relax, we have our answer, we can now be saved.

John calls Jesus “the Lamb” for a reason. It’s because he wants to point to the Passion of the Cross which will be the way that our primary problem will be solved; through the Cross we will have our sins forgiven.

So, don’t let life overwhelm you. Let your relationship with Christ be the source of your peace and your strength. When you start to panic, turn to the friend who can help you sort things out, and most importantly, turn to Christ who loved you and died on the cross for your sake. See Christ for who He really is, as did John the Baptist did, and take comfort in knowing that the Lord has your back and will not abandon you in times of trouble.