Take it Easy
Matthew 11:28-30 “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.”
We live in a very tense, uptight and fast paced world filled with hurry. We are frazzled, overwhelmed, & bewildered. Truth is we are addicted to noise
Movie - Michael Douglas stars in Falling Down
It was a story about a day in the life of a man who had experienced all he could take of the pressures, disappointments, & and inconveniences of life. He experiences mounting anxiety as he endures a traffic jam (caused by construction), suffers the oppression of inflated prices at a local store (owned by a foreigner), and is put through indignities of poor service (with a smile) at a fast food restaurant.
These everyday frustrations, combined with a sense of being disconnected from his family (the result of a recent divorce), & the loss of his job, all culminate on this fateful day to push him over the edge!
As a result of all these pressures, his normal, healthy logic & rationale are suspended, & he resorts to violence, murder, & blowing things up!
John 16:33 Amplified - I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]
Where are you going to live? Tribulation? Or Christ
Time magazine noted that back in the 60’s, expert testimony was given to a Senate sub-committee on time management. They predicted that advances in technology would radically change how many hours a week people worked. They forecasted that the average American would be working 22 hours a week within 20 years. “The great challenge,” the experts said, “would be figuring out what to do with all the excess time.” Over 40 years later, after major advances in technology – how many of us are wondering what to do with all the excess time on our hands?
Our world has become the world of the Red Queen of Alice and Wonderland: “Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.”
How many of us feel like that? Let’s take a group quiz to see how many of us are being dragged through life. Fill in the blanks:
I’m ready to throw in the… I’m at the end of my…
I’m just a bundle of… My life is falling…
I’m at my wit’s… I feel like resigning from the human…
Apparently we’re all experiencing the rat race. Just when you thought you were getting ahead, along come faster rats. But remember, he who wins the rat race is still a rat.
We need to learn how to Take it easy, chill, relax, and rest!
A good way to measure that - Philippians 4:7 NIV - And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
IF there is one term that describes the state of affairs in the lives of people today, it is OVERLOAD.
We are Overwhelmed, Overworked, Overcommitted, Overanxious, Overmatched, and Overextended. Our tanks are on empty and we’re running on fumes.
I. Some of us are overwhelmed by the pace of life.
•The term 24/7 – nonstop. It’s become a mantra for our American culture. Everything is MORE. (It’s not a scheduling issue but a life issue)
•In 1978 Grocery stores had 11,000 products. Today over 30,000
•550 different kinds of coffee, 250 diff. kinds of toothpaste, 175 diff kinds of salad dressing, 2500 diff kinds of light bulbs.More keeps coming
Number One Lie – You Can Have it All
No you can’t! You really can’t. And even if you could, where would you put it? What would you do with it? It would demand tremendous amounts of time and energy. Would it be worth the price?
Solomon did have it all – breathtaking vineyards & wineries, greenhouses full of exotic flowers & gardens, the best & most thoroughbred horses, 700 wives, 300 concubines, drank out of goblets made of gold (no Dixie cups), He had more riches and possessions than any other king on the earth. (I Kings 10:23) and He was the wisest man on the earth.
I Kings 10:4-7 - 4 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at[a] the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 7 But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard.
Solomon really did have it all and he managed to pull it off. He believed the lie, pursued the lie, and accomplished the lie. And when he got there he realized he had been deceived.
Ecclesiastes 2:10, 17-20 - I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. 17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
End result – disappointment.
God made man simple; man’s complex problems are of his own devising – Eccl. 7:29 JB
II. Some of us are overwhelmed by the pressures & Pain of life.
1.God designed us as human beings to carry a certain amount of pressure. We are finite. Dust in the wind
Psalm 103:14 - for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
Too much pressure brings us down. Makes our head ache, pain to our chests, & sets our nerves on edge.
Epicureanism says, “Be sensuous enjoy yourself”, Materialism says, “Be satisfied, please yourself”, Psychology says, “Be confident, fulfill yourself, Pride says, “Be superior, Promote yourself”, Humanism says, “Be capable, believe in yourself”, But God says, “Be wise, Humble yourself”
Even though we are driven to achieve and aquire more, God wants us to stop and listen to Him.
John Piper said, “The longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not sinful.”
The problem in our culture is not that we long for happiness, but that we have searched for it outside of God’s good and gracious plan.
2. The Answer is to Know God
- Psalm 46:10 - “Be still, and know that I am God;
Still – to abate, to cease, to let go, or to stop.
Becoming still is an important key to knowing God. If we don’t fulfill the prerequisite of finding a place of stillness the implication is that we won’t know God.
“The great reason why life is troubled & restless lies not without, but within.”
If you don’t like where you are going in life – STOP. Let go of the challenges, worries, and anxieties that encumber us.
Matthew 11:28-30 The Message - “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
e. Hebrews 4: 11 So we must make every effort to enter that place of rest. Then no one will be lost by following the example of those who refused to obey. (GWT)
