The title of today’s message is “You Can’t Handle It All,” but the reality is many of you, you’re trying to do way more than you probably should. Because of that, most of us are often overwhelmed. We’re in a hurry. We’re rushed. We’re late. In fact, how many of you are so often in a rush that slow people really annoy you? How many of you would say that? Yeah, just the fact that it took some of you a long time to raise your hand that annoys me. You’re way too slow!!
How about this? Have any of you ever analyzed which line’s going to be the fastest check out at the grocery store? We do. Sometimes Stacy will get into one line and send me out to see if there is a shorter one. Anybody ever do that? Why? Because we’re in such a rush that’s why.
I mean, honestly I don’t have a whole lot of faith that a lot of you are going to be changed this morning. I really don’t, because I think many of you, are going to shake this message off. Later on this week you won’t even remember what the message was and you are going to be back to your insane lifestyle. It won’t affect you, but a few of you will. You will have an encounter with Jesus today, and you will be different.
And this is what I am banking on! If this message can touch just one life then it was worth it all. :PLEASE STAND WITH ME:
Matthew 11:28-30 here is what Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus is saying for all of us that are stressed, worn out, beat down, weary, come to Him and He will give us Rest.
“Some of us don’t even know what rest is. We don’t, because when we rest, we feel guilty. Don’t we? Because we’re not doing something productive, and if you’re not doing something productive, it couldn’t be good. I mean, we’re a society that in general doesn’t have any respect for the Sabbath, a day of rest. We feel guilty when we do it. We feel guilty when we are obeying God by observing the Sabbath with rest.
Jesus goes on to say in verse 29- 30, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
What is a yoke? Well, if you’ve ever seen two oxen plowing a field, or maybe a picture of it, they have a wooden or a steel yoke. It’s what joins them together so that they can go at the same pace, the same rhythm. We should be yoked, or joined, with Jesus. Why? Because many of us, we are going much faster and doing far more than Christ would have us do.
We just have too much to do and not enough time.
So what should we do when we have too many things to do? Well,
I.First of all, we need to recognize that some things need to be shared.
A.Some things need to be shared. You think, “I can handle it all.” You weren’t designed to handle it all. God often gives us things to share with others.
1.Look at the story of Moses. In Exodus 18, starting in verse 17, when he was overwhelmed, his father-in-law gave him some good advice and said, 17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.
2.The thing I really am impressed about Moses in this story is how he responded.
3.We read in verse 24: Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.
4.It really is hard for most of us to take criticism isn’t it. Maybe it is our prideful flesh or we are just instinctively controlling Moses gives us an awdesome example of how to receive criticism. It doesn’t say he argued or even pondered about it. It says He did it. And the criticism came from an in-law too!! . I am for one horrible when it comes to taking criticism from family members.
5.Besides taking criticism, we need to learn how to delegate all that we have going on.
6. For many of you, what you are doing is not good. What people consider normal today is not good. You’re only going to wear yourselves out. You can’t handle it alone. Now, chances are, the problem with many of you is much like me. I’m totally willing to help others, but I don’t know how to receive from others. I rarely ask for help.
7. Many of you, you are carrying the burdens on your own and you’re not sharing with anyone. “I can handle it. I can handle it.” No, you can’t handle it all. You weren’t designed to.
8.Do you want to fulfill the law of Christ? If so, here is what scripture says. Galatians 6:2 “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
9.We may be able to share our load and delegate some things out but we must also understand that….
II. Some things need to be stopped.
A.Could it be that you are doing way too much?
1.Think for a moment, if you will, and ask yourself, “How would you fill in this blank?” If only I had more time, I would … _____.
2.I don’t know what it would be for you. “If only I had more time, I would spend time with my children. If only I had more time, I would serve in the church. If only I had more time, I would go and help teach or coach some kids so I could pour into their life. If only I had more time …” I don’t know what it would be for you, but there may be some value that God has put in your heart that you’re not doing because you don’t have enough time.
3.And I am going to tell you right now, that is a cop out, because you do have time. You are choosing to put other things in that time. You are choosing what is lesser rather than what is better. You make the choice. You, have time for what you choose to have time for. You do.
4. The challenge is: so many of us are doing what is expected out of a very sick culture, instead of doing what is right and what is better. I mean, I could talk on this for an hour. What our culture calls normal is totally insane. Let me ask you this. What do your actions communicate that you value?
5.I believe what our culture’s actions communicate that we value today is time away from God.
6.Sleeping in on Sunday mornings is very desirable. Skipping that boring church to play golf or watch the big game is really what many want to do. Praying, reading or going to a church service is viewed by most as un-desirable, as boring and as a time waster.
7.Some things need to be stopped. Some things simply get in the way of our relationship with God. We have placed the things of the world above God.
8.Some things need to be stopped, and I don’t know what those things are for you, because they are going to be totally different for you than they will be for me. Here is what scripture says. Psalms 46:10, the Bible says to be what? The Bible says to, “Be still.” ………….
9.It’s awkward, isn’t it? Like, say something. Do something. Don’t just be still. Don’t be quiet. It’s awkward. “Be still, and know that I am God.” The reason many of us as believers, don’t experience the fresh wind of God, the presence of His Spirit in our life is because we don’t have time for Him.
10. You say He is important, but your actions communicate otherwise. Be still. The Hebrew word is the word raphah (rah-faw’), and here’s what it means. It means to slacken. It means to allow to sink. It means to let drop. The modern translation is, drop it. Drop it. Drop it, and know that I am God. Drop it. There are some things that need to be dropped, some things that need to be stopped. Stop doing some things and, and invest your life in the places that will last, the places that will matter. Drop it.
11.In fact, here is what happens. Most of us, have a little “to do” list. Over time your “to do” list accumulates. Your responsibilities accumulate. They increase. Your commitments, they accumulate, and we add, we add, we add, we add. We rarely subtract.
12.Maybe instead of adding to your “to do” list, we need a new list, and I call it the “to don’t” list. And list the things that you’re not going to do.
13.What do you need to add to your “to don’t” list? What do you need to add? Because some things need to be shared. Some things need to be stopped. And the bottom line is that……….
III.Everything needs to be surrendered.
A.Everything needs to be surrendered to our Lord God. Psalms 62:1 says, “My soul,” where does it find rest? Scripture says, “My soul finds rest in,” what? Say it aloud. “My soul finds rest in, in God alone.” Not on a vacation or in a newer house or in a newer car or in a car with butt warmers so I feel comfortable when I’m driving down the road, or in a better outfit, or in a swimming pool for my back yard. My soul, it finds rest in God, alone. My salvation, it comes from Him. It comes from Him, alone.
1.Psalm 55:22 tells us this. We are told to “Cast our cares on the Lord and He will sustain you.” We need to take that which burdens us and throw it onto God, but most of us don’t.
2.I usually try and use new clips to illustrate various point within my sermons but for this morning i want to share with you one that i have used before. But that’s exactly what we do with God. Some of you may remember this one entitled “The Stool”
VIDEO: “The Stool”
3.“God, I’ll let you save me, but I still want certain areas of my life, you see. I’ve got these burdens, and I’m going to carry them myself because I can handle it all.”
4. No, you can’t. We weren’t designed to. We’re not that good. “God won’t give us more than we can handle.” Scripture never says that. In fact, God may have allowed some of you to have more than you can handle so you can come to a breaking point where you cry out and depend on Him.
5.Here is the big question I want to ask you. It’s a big question. I want you to acknowledge. Earlier on, most of us said we are often stressed and overwhelmed. There is something wrong with that picture. Here is the big question I want you to ask yourself, and that is this. What radical change do I need to make?
6.If you are going to be yoked with Jesus, what radical change do you need to make? Now, you may say, “Well, Kelly, I don’t need to make a radical change.” No, you do, because you are a very bright person and if some small change, if some minor tweak would have worked, you would have done that years ago. If something small would have made it, you would have figured that out and done it a long time ago. What radical change do you need to make?
7. I don’t know. I mean, for some of you, it may be that you move into a smaller home so that you can go to a, a one-income family, because for you, that would make the difference. Or you become a one-car family so that you don’t feel the financial pressure and you don’t have to work two jobs, or, whatever it is, or you educate your kids in a different way, or you put your hobby on hold.
Conclusion: Jesus says, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened.” That’s, the majority of us. Come to Jesus, not in a cultural Christianity, “Hey, we went to church. We did our Jesus thing,” but a come to Jesus and say, “Jesus, if we belong to You, then You lead us. You lead us. You lead us. We are not being … we are not following what is expected of us culturally. We are following what You demand of us Biblically.
And what most people call Christianity today is, honestly a joke. It is a cultural Christianity, and it is not real. We will not surrender to the values of this culture. We will surrender to the values of Christ. Anything less is false Christianity. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus.
