Last August, speaker and author Rory Vaden posted this on Twitter:
Saying “I’m too busy” is the adult version of saying “The dog ate my homework”
I think he may very well be right. And my guess is that every one of us in this room have been guilty of using that excuse at some time in our lives. Have you ever found yourself saying something like this?
• I can’t exercise because I’m too busy
• I can’t eat healthy because I just don’t have time to shop for and prepare healthy meals
• I can’t go out on a date with my spouse this week because I’m too busy
• I can’t read my child a story right now because I’m too busy
• I couldn’t take a vacation with my family this year because we’re all just too busy
• I couldn’t read my Bible or pray today because I was too busy
• I can’t make it to church most weeks, because I’m too busy.
While most of us recognize that we need to do something about our busyness, the fact is that we’re often just too busy to ever get around to actually making the required changes. So we’ve become a society consisting of human doings rather than human beings.
So how do we make the changes that are required to deal with that busyness? There is certainly no shortage of so-called “experts” out there who offer their solutions – often at a rather steep price, by the way. They usually call themselves something like “life coaches”. One that I ran across on the internet this week called herself a “Self-Love Coach”. Many of these “coaches” promise to help you get control of your schedule. Others suggest that you just merely quit saying “I’m busy”. But what all these solutions have in common is that they only deal with the symptoms and never get to the heart of the issue. So their solutions don’t provide any lasting help.
But there is an effective, lasting antidote to the problem of our busyness, and since we’re studying Psalm 23 in this series, you’ve probably already figured out that is where we’re going to find that solution.
Today, we’ll look at verse 2:
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
(Psalm 23:2 ESV)
A couple years ago when Mary and I travelled to the island of Hawaii for our vacation, we flew into Hilo and spent the first couple of days in the lush, green rain forest on the west side of the island. That area is what you would expect Hawaii to look like – lots of rain and lush green vegetation. When it came time to go to the other side of the island for the rest of our stay, we got in our rental car and proceeded to drive across the island to the condo we had rented. Based on the pictures we had seen online, we were looking forward to spending several more days in a lush, tropical paradise.
But as we got closer to our condo and turned to drive south along the Kohala Coast, we began to worry that perhaps we had made a huge mistake. As far as we could see in every direction there was nothing but lava rock. And what little vegetation there was looked a lot more like that we see in the desert around here than a tropical paradise. Even when we reached the turnoff for our condo, there was nothing more than a few palm trees and some small patches of grass that obviously did not grow there naturally. And then as soon as we made the turn there was nothing but lava rock again. But about a mile off the main highway, we finally came to the palm trees, lush golf courses, manicured lawns and sandy beaches that we were expecting.
We came to find out that all of the resorts on that part of the island had been built by developers who had constructed their resorts - their buildings, their golf courses and their lush landscaping – right on top of all that lava rock. They had created a beautiful oasis right in the middle of something that looked more like the surface of the moon than most people’s idea of Hawaii.
I have to believe that the green pastures and still waters that David wrote about in Psalm 23 were quite similar to that in many ways. Oases with lush, green grass and still, refreshing waters didn’t just happen by chance amid the rocky soils and arid climate. It took a great deal of effort on the part of the shepherd to provide those places of rest for the sheep.
And it’s also true that the sheep under the care of the shepherd were a lot like us. By nature, sheep are restless and easily spooked so they find it hard to settle down and rest from their busyness. In his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip Keller writes that sheep are so easily panicked that even a jackrabbit bounding from behind a bush can stampede an entire flock.
But for sheep to flourish, it is important that they have a place where they can fill up quickly and then lie down quietly and rest and ruminate. According to Keller, when conditions permitted that, the lambs could reach 100 pounds in weight within 100 days of being born. On the other hand, the sheep who were hungry or discontent were constantly on their feet, searching for greener pastures rather than enjoying what the shepherd had already prepared from them.
So for the sheep to experience the kind of peace that overcame their natural tendency toward busyness, the shepherd had to make sure two things happened. First, he had to prepare the pasture to make sure the sheep had plenty to eat. And second, he had to provide an environment in which the skittish sheep felt comfortable enough to lie down and rest. According to Keller, that required that the sheep to be free from four things:
1. Fear
2. Friction with the other sheep
3. Parasites and other pests
4. Hunger
The sheep could not provide any of those things on their own. It was only the presence of the shepherd that made it possible for the sheep to experience that kind of peace and get the rest that they needed.
So let’s consider how this applies to our lives. We live our busy lives in the midst of a world that is mostly barren. And for the most part we’re too busy looking for those greener pastures and stiller waters to just settle down and just enjoy that which the Shepherd has already provided and find the peace that He desires for our lives.
But there is an effective antidote to that busyness that is found in the verse that we’re studying this morning:
If Jesus is my shepherd
I have peace when I rest in His presence
But resting in the presence of the Shepherd is not something that comes natural to us. So let’s see what we can learn about…
HOW TO REST IN GOD’S PRESENCE
1. Don’t confuse my work with my worth
Has some one ever asked you how you’re doing and you reply something like this: “I’m doing well, but boy am I busy.” I know I’ve certainly done that. But the more I’ve thought about that this week, the more I’ve realized what that kind of response conveys. First, if that’s the first thing that comes to mind it means that I probably am too busy. But perhaps even worse, that kind of statement is usually intended to communicate to the other person that my busyness is actually a good thing and that they should be impressed that I’m so busy.
That can even happen in the church. Although none of us would ever admit it publicly and perhaps we don’t even realize it ourselves, there is a tendency for us to think that the more we do for God - the more ministries we’re involved in, the more Bible studies we attend, the more time we spend at church – the more God is impressed with us.
I know I’ve certainly been there in my life. When we lived in Albuquerque I went from a point where my only commitment to our church was to attend on a fairly regular basis to a point where I was way overcommitted because I had not yet learned to say “no”. While I didn’t see it at the time, as I look back on that season of my life I can now see that I assumed my busyness was earning me favor with God and impressing others.
Obviously, I am not saying that the only motivation for serving God and serving others is to enhance my worth in their eyes. I’m really thankful for those of you here in this church who step up on a regular basis to take on responsibilities here just because you have a servant’s heart, often serving in areas where you might not be particularly gifted just because there is a need.
But at the same time, there are others of you who are not serving at all who could really help out those of us who tend to overcommit by stepping up and helping out in some areas where we have needs. In particular, we could really use some help with our ministry to our children. Right now most of the people who are serving in the nursery and children’s church have to do that much more often that we would like just because we have so few people ministering to our kids. If that is something that you would be willing to do, please talk to Mary and she’ll get you plugged in.
But when we look at the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep, it becomes clear that my worth does not come from my work. The shepherd does not prepare green pastures for his sheep and lead them beside still waters and make them comfortable because they do anything to earn his tender care. He cares for them simply because he has purchased them and they belong to him. Although some of the sheep are certainly easier to care for than others, the shepherd loves all his sheep equally. There is nothing the sheep can do to make the shepherd love them more or make him love them less.
If we’re going to make sure that we don’t get caught in this trap of confusing our work with our worth, then we need to set some boundaries on our attitudes and on our calendars.
Let’s begin with our attitude. While it is certainly true that there are some of us who require more of God’s attention because we are constantly straying from the path and God has to keep bringing us back, the fact is that there is nothing that you or I can do to make God love us more and there is nothing we can do that will make God love us less. And if we really understood and believed that I am convinced that we would be freed up from so much of the busyness in our life that results from trying to earn favor with God and with others.
But we also need to take the very practical step of placing boundaries around our schedules. I can’t possibly cover all the possible ways to do that, but let me just share a few practical tips that I’ve found work for me:
• Keep a calendar with you. That’s certainly far easier today with our smartphones. I don’t know about you, but if I don’t write things down I can forget them pretty quickly. When I have my calendar with me, it’s much easier to check for potential conflicts in my schedule and it also helps prevent me from over-scheduling my day.
• Make sure you know your priorities. Had I done that better early on in our marriage, it would have kept me from agreeing to get involved in some activities and ministries that may have been really good, but which got in the way of things that should have been a higher priority. Make sure to include time in your schedule for time with God and for some time to just enjoy the green pastures God has prepared for you. I’ll talk more about that in a moment.
• If you’re married, don’t commit to any activity that might take time away from your family until you first consult your spouse. I’ve found that just telling people that I need to check with Mary first gives me some time to consider whether a particular activity is really worth my time and it also allows me to get her input as well.
• If you’re a child still living at home with your parents, then consult with your parents first before making any commitments. Not only can they provide you with some wise counsel, but chances are that your commitment is also going to impact them.
If Jesus is my shepherd
I have peace when I rest in His presence
And the first step to doing that is to make sure I don’t confuse my work with my worth.
2. Embrace God’s rhythm of labor and rest
This is such an important principle that we’re going to use the “Connections” time this morning to examine it in more detail. But let me just say for now that in the process of creation God established a rhythm of labor and rest. God labored for six days and then He rested. Obviously God did not do that because He was tired. He did it because He understood our need for times of rest and refreshment and He wanted to establish that pattern in His creation.
But for many of us our lives are so busy that we often fail to follow that pattern. In that sense we are much like the sheep that the shepherd has to make to lie down in the green pastures that he has prepared for His flock because by nature they are so restless.
In our culture workaholics are often held in high esteem and praised for their work ethic and their ability to accomplish so much. But for a disciple of Jesus, it is actually a mark of spiritual immaturity. Let me illustrate. For those of you who are parents of young children, how many of you have ever struggled with trying to get your kids to take a nap? While many of them eventually came to the place where they would do that willingly, it probably took some work on your part to get them there.
Now let me ask you, when you are tired and you get a chance to take a nap, does anyone have to convince you that you need to do that? Probably not. The bigger issue for you is being relieved of your parental responsibilities for long enough to do that.
I think the same thing is true spiritually. The more mature we get, the more we recognize the need to embrace God’s pattern of labor and rest.
Being a workaholic also often reveals our lack of trust in God. My experience has been that most workaholics claim that thy are doing all that extra work in order to support their families. They might even quote the Bible and tell you that someone who doesn’t provide for his or her family is worse than an unbeliever. But, in reality, if we’re too busy to take off one day out of every seven like God did and like He commanded us to do, then what we’re really saying to God is that I have to work all that extra time because God is not capable of providing everything I need and my family needs if I work less.
Let me share with you some questions that will help you evaluate how well you’re doing in this area. Do you regularly take a break from your provision getting to honor God’s provision giving?
• On a daily basis, do you take time out from making a living to spend some time with the Shepherd to thank Him for providing that job and your ability to earn a living?
• On a weekly basis do you make attending church with your family and your brothers and sisters in Christ a priority or are you preoccupied with your work or your hobbies?
• Perhaps the best test in this area is in how you give to God, particularly if you’re struggling with your finances. Do you follow the command of Scripture:
Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
(Proverbs 3:9 ESV)
Do you take a break from your labor and honor God for what He has already provided by giving back to Him the very first portion of your income, demonstrating your trust that God will provide for your needs? Or do you just give God the leftovers, or even nothing at all, because you’re trusting in your own ability to meet your needs instead?
If Jesus is my shepherd
I have peace when I rest in His presence
In order to do that I have to embrace God’s rhythm of labor and rest.
3. Enjoy what I already have
Right here in our community it’s pretty easy to see that most people haven’t learned to do this very well. If they did, I doubt that the Golden Goose and Goodwill would even be in business and there would be far fewer garage and yard sales.
The other indicator that we’re not enjoying what we have is the amount of debt that most families in this country have accumulated. For the households that have these types of debt, the average household in the United States owes:
• $16,000 in credit card debt
• $27,00 for auto loans
• $48,000 for student loans
• $169,000 for mortgages
Certainly not all of that debt is irresponsible or unnecessary, but to a large degree it has been incurred into order to buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have, often to impress others who don’t really care.
The reason that the shepherd has to make his sheep lie down in green pastures is that they are busy literally looking for grass that is greener on the other side of the fence instead of just enjoying the green pastures and still waters the shepherd has already provided.
But that is not the way our Shepherd, Jesus wants us to live. I guess it’s probably been about 7 years or so since we studied the book of Ecclesiastes together. That book is primarily about the futility of living life apart from God. But one of the key themes in that book is that of enjoying what God has already provided for us. Here is one of the verses that communicates that idea:
Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.
(Ecclesiastes 5:19 ESV)
In writing about the futility of just trying to get more and more, the writer of Ecclesiastes encouraged his readers to resist the urge to pursue what they didn’t have and instead to just rejoice in what God had already given them.
And the best way to do that is to make sure we keep our eyes on the Shepherd and not the other sheep. When we begin to focus on the other sheep and what they have that we don’t, we become jealous, restless and discontent.
In his book, Phillip Keller wrote this about how the presence of the Shepherd was essential to the peace of the sheep:
But one point that always interested me very much was that whenever I came into view and my presence attracted their attention, the sheep quickly forgot their foolish rivalries and stopped their fighting. The shepherd’s presence made all the difference in their behavior.
If Jesus is my shepherd
I have peace when I rest in His presence
And one of the most important ways I can do that is to enjoy what I already have.
Imagine what it would be like to take up the Shepherd’s offer of peace and be able to rest in His presence. Imagine what it would be like to not have to use the adult version of “the dog ate my homework” and be constantly telling people that you’re too busy to do the things in life that really matter. Imagine what it would be like to have time to devote to really getting to know Jesus, and to spend time with your family and to invest in the lives of others rather than wasting most of your time pursuing things that have no eternal value?
That is the kind of life that your Shepherd, Jesus, desires for you. And He loves you so much that He was willing to leave the glory of heaven and come to earth to live as a man and die on the cross in order to make that kind of peace available to you. Will you rest in the green pastures and beside the still waters that He has provided for you?
[Prayer]
Once again this morning, we’re going to work together on memorizing Psalm 23.
Let’s begin with the first verse we learned last week. Let’s see if we can recite it without any help. [Put the verse up after the people recite it]
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Last week, we used one method of meditating on Scripture by repeating the verse several times, emphasizing a different word each time. This morning, as we learn verse 2, we’ll use a different method of meditating on God’s word. First, let’s just read verse 2 out loud together a couple of times.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
Now what I want you to do is to just picture in your mind what that looks like. For some of you, like Derek, that might have a hard time picturing that in your mind, I’ve put an image on the screen to help you visualize what that might look like. As you either think about that image in your mind repeat that verse quietly to yourself several times.
Now let’s see if we can do the first two verses all together:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
