The Lifeless Juggling Bag
Scripture: Psalm 73: 23-24 Date: 8 July 2012
Purpose: To share that life is much like an un-used juggling bag. We need to allow God to pick us up and create in us much more to be what we were intended to be.
Without God directing us in life we are very much like this juggling bag. We are lifeless, un- moveable; we just sit there doing nothing for our lives or for any life around us. We will never accomplish anything and be what God created us to be. We will never make an impact in this world.
Start Juggling:
But even when we do allow God to move us we sometimes collide with others don’t we? But we must allow God to pick us up and get us back into the juggling act of life and move on.
But what is it that keeps us pressed down? What keeps us from allowing God to pick us up and to toss us into the juggling act of life?
I have noticed in my short, young life a few things that I feel can affect our spiritual journey in this world and I have noticed that it is because of our own selves that we seem un movable. Our un-forgiveness, our grudges, our pride and yes even our laziness keeps us from soaring with God.
We love to blame our downfalls on others. We say things like, “If he or she didn’t rub me the wrong way we would of or could of.” we say it is because of others in this world that we are the way we are, because of them is why I am no longer doing the will of God.
Sometimes in life and yes more often than not, we get bumped into by others that throws our lives of track, and we fall down and instead of allowing God to pick us back up we simply settle for staying put wherever we have fallen.
JUGGLING Illustration: Juggling is much like life isn’t it? Sometimes we feel as if we are going in circles, doing the same thing day in and day out, going only in the same direction. Life becomes dull and boring and we many times get dizzy. In order for us to come alive, we need to switch things up and throw a little flare into our daily lives in order to stay excited about life in general.
But you may ask, “How can I get out of the same routine of living life day by day really going nowhere and feeling as if I am in-effective for Christ?”
First of all, I believe that we must take chances in life.
We need to step out of the box, out of our comfort zones so to speak and try to do things we wouldn’t normally do.
Take a chance; take a risk and trying something new. You may be surprised at what you are capable of doing if given the chance.
JUGGLING Illustration: Get a volunteer to come up and give them a crash course with simple juggling.
How will you ever know what you can do if you never give it a shot? This is how God works in our lives. He may be calling to us to try something new but we allow our insecurities, fears, and Satan’s whispers to keep us from moving forward.
We may try something and fail miserably, but we cannot allow our fear of failure to stop us from trying.
God has given each of us His promise that he will be with us, He will hold our hand and guide us even during the dark times, He is with us.
Psalm 73: 23-24 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right and. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
In life many times we stumble and we feel the pains of going on. Keeping our heads above water is difficult and very tiring but we cannot allow our flesh to stop us in our tracks, we need to place our faith in God and believe with all our heart that He knows what he is doing when he opens the door to a new opportunity for us.
Sometimes we see those opportunities before us and tell ourselves that it is an impossible feat. We don’t think that we could ever make it happen, because we don’t believe in miracles and because we place too much belief in ourselves rather than on God.
In juggling we see tricks that we think is amazing, we see other people do them and we still look at it with disbelief and we tell ourselves that we could never accomplish it ourselves.
JUGGLING Illustration: Check this out: How many of you believe that I can pass my arm through as I juggle these two bags in one hand?
I remember seeing this trick years ago and I told myself that I could never do it but I didn’t allow my insecurities to keep me from trying it.
I told myself that I was going to accomplish it and I would visualize myself doing it.
I spent more time day dreaming of doing it rather than actually doing it. Day and night I saw myself doing it and I built my confidence up by visualization.
Then I began actually trying it and you know what I found out? It was a lot easier than I built it up to be. I was able to do it through building myself up and actually seeing in my head doing it and making it a reality.
Illustration: In a coaches manual I read of a story in which a study was performed on three groups with free throws. One group sat and did nothing for an hour. One group practiced free throws for one hour. And another group spent the hour visualizing themselves making the shot, going through the motions without a ball and telling themselves that they were making the shots.
Go ahead and Take a guess at which group was more successful? That’s right, the group that spent time visualizing the shots. They came in first, the group actually doing it for an hour came in second and the group that only sat doing nothing came in last.
My question for you this morning is this: What is it that you feel God tugging at your heart with but you simply feel is not possible? You tell yourself that you can’t do it because you are not gifted in that area. You tell yourself that it would take too much work, too much time, too much of a sacrifice, too much sweat. So you then tell yourself that you just can step out of the box and you don’t do it and you become lifeless and non-sufficient for God. Much like that lifeless juggling bag, you sit there doing nothing but the opportunities to excel are there but since you are unwilling to try you cheat yourself and those around you by doing nothing.
You maybe are sitting there this morning thinking to yourself, “Pastor what in the world are you talking about? I am fine where I am. I come to church each Sunday, I pray on a regular basis, I’m tithing, and I’m involved in the service of the church. What more can I do?”
These are questions not for me but for you. You need to search your life and seek God in what it is that you can do. Maybe you’re involved in an area of the church that needs more attention. Maybe your prayer life needs to branch out other than just at meals and prayer requests. Maybe you need to stretch yourself in another area spiritually and do something new that you are afraid to do because you feel as if you can’t do it for whatever reason.
I have no idea what it is for each individual person but I do know this. Sitting by and doing the same thing never trying anything new will get you nowhere in life.
When I learned juggling I didn’t just visualize myself doing that one trick, I visualized many and I had juggling on my mind night and day. It was a part of me. I craved it and lived it.
And this brings me to my last point this morning.
We must place Jesus first in our lives.
The Apostles in (Acts 5:42) placed Jesus first in their lives. “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”
I don’t want to convey that this is what we need to do but I want us to see here that since Jesus was first in their lives, this is what they did.
I am sure that they craved Jesus so much that this is what drove them to do His work. They had a genuine zeal to not be a lifeless juggling bag. They wanted to do more in their lives and they wanted to do more for Jesus.
That is the kind of zeal and enthusiasm that we are to have as Christians.
If you feel that your zeal tank is running low or is on empty, then I would like to encourage you to fill your tank back up with Jesus. When we start refocusing upon Jesus and our commitment to Him, then our zeal will return.
We need to visualize moving forward within our lives and seek what it is that we can be doing better, different, and maybe even more of in order to accomplish that in which he created each of us to do.
Church, God has plans for us here. Plans to be prosperous beyond that which we can imagine. Plans to do more for him in various areas but those plans will never come to light until we visualize and move forward within our own spiritual lives.
What is it that He is calling you to do? What is it that you can do differently? What is it that you aren’t doing that perhaps God is calling you to do? To try?
Conclusion:
These are personal questions that you will receive personal answers from God. I can’t answer them for you but I sure can help guide you to the one that can.
*Start Juggling:
And once you begin your journey, you will realize that life is more than a simple toss and you will see all that God has in store for you as he continues to create the miracles of His juggling act with your life.
You will reach new heights and yes maybe some lows but the in between will add excitement, flare and miracles will happen.
