Intro
Good morning Real Life, my name is Curtis (or Jeff to some of you) and I’m the Connections Director here.
We are going to be continuing our Timeless series where we’ve been looking at some spiritual disciplines that can help us grow our faith. These aren’t new and in fact have been around for many many years. But today we have forgotten, or just don’t practice, them anymore. So what we hope to do is to give you some tools that will help you grow in your relationship with God.
And if you recall back to the first week we talked about how this process of growing with God is not something that happens instantly. Growth takes time and there’s purpose in the process. It’s through this growing process that we get to experience and learn about God.
If you missed one of the past 2 weeks I would encourage you to go to our website or download our podcast so that you can catch up.
So these disciplines we’ve been trying aren’t supposed to instantly make us more like God. Rather they start us on this process.
One of the reasons I think that these practices are so valuable. And why you should put them into your life is because not only does the Bible talk about them. But Jesus actually DID them! If you look at Jesus’ life you will see him teach them and live them out. Jesus modeled these practices in his own life. And I just think that if Jesus needed them… And you know he was like God and stuff… We mere humans could probably stand to benefit from them as well.
And today we are going to be looking at a timeless practice that I think might be one of the most needed in our culture. One that can help us more than an other. It’s a practice we all know about, but most of us fail to actually do. And that is rest…
And I’ll be honest I don’t really want to talk about this. Not because I think it’s bad or boring or anything. But because I fail to actually live this out in my life, regularly. When I first starting thinking about writing this sermon a month or so back my first thought was I don’t have time for this! I don’t time to rest, never mind write a message on rest. I’m not good at taking a break. But it’s the thing I desperately need.
I’m guessing you can relate too… We are a culture that doesn’t like to slow down.
Tension
When we first started talking about this week I thought maybe we should just cancel this service, we’d turn the lights down low, and we had out sleeping bags instead of chairs. And we’d all just take a nap. Anybody feel like that need a nap and some peace and quiet? Yeah me to…
Keep your hands down for these… But does anyone just feel like they’re always behind? Anybody struggle to sleep even though you are exhausted? Anyone feel like your juggling a thousand things and you are just one mistake away from it all crashing down? Anybody feel like you are letting others down? Anyone have anxiety? How about this… Anyone ever get angry and blow up at someone for seemingly no reason?
Those are all signs of burn out… And my guess is everyone in here has experienced these, or is experiencing these.
Before I came out here I worked in student ministry for 3-4 years. I’ve shared a little about that experience in the past. It was a really difficult time in my life. And I wasn’t in a good spot… I was on a dangerous path. And it was largely my fault because I refused to take a good rest. I refused to stop. I was tired. I was spent… By the end of my time there I didn’t have much left in the tank.
When everything felt like it was falling apart I’d work harder to hold it together. I starting going into work earlier, staying later. Months would go by where I wouldn’t take a day off. There were weeks where I’d work every night. And listen that’s not because I’m such a good worker. Those were some of the most unproductive days. Ironically the more I worked the further behind I got. I have very little show for the effort I put in.
When I did get home I couldn’t give my wife the time and focus that she deserved. I didn’t have anything left. And I couldn’t turn my brain off. So I’d pour a drink, I’d grab a beer, to help relax. One beer became two, two became three. And pretty soon I couldn’t drink enough to take the edge off. I wasn’t in a good spot. I was quick to anger, I never felt rested, I didn’t take care of myself, and I wasn’t doing my job well.
I was relying on things to help me cope. Rather then dealing with the root of the problem… And if I continued down that path long enough, those bad habits I was creating would have become addictions. Maybe that story seems a little bit too real for some of you..
Here’s what’s important to understand. It’s what I can see now that I couldn’t see than. At the time I had a thousand excuses why I was in the situation I was in. It was their fault, it was the job, I just didn’t have a choice… If only this went away I could rest, once this project is done. Once this happens THEN I will take some time off.
Once I was removed from the situation I realized the reason I was in the spot I was in was not because God gave me something I couldn’t handle. I was in that spot because I refused to rest, I refused to trust God, I kept trying to do everything on my own.
I share this story not for you to say wow look at bad he had it. I share that story because I know some of you that’s not something you have to imagine… That’s your life, that’s the story you are living. You are there. And I want you to know there’s a better way. God has given us a better way for life.
Some of you aren't there yet. But you are well on your way. You might not realize it yet, but that’s the path you are on. And listen if you don’t rest it will only lead to burn out. There’s no other option. We are built to rest. And you need that.
We need rest. It’s built into creation. We are designed to rest. God model this for us after he created the earth.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:2-3
God didn’t NEED to rest. He’s God, he wasn’t tired. He was showing us the importance of taking a break. It’s part of who we are. He was modeling what he built into creation.
And when we ignore rest. We are in danger of burning out. And here’s the thing with burn out… It never only effects you. It effects everyone around you. Sure you can hide it for awhile. But eventually it will creep into all your relationships. You will lash out your spouse. Stop paying attention to your kids. Your productivity will fall at work. We aren’t built to not rest.
This is maybe the most ignored spiritual discipline in our culture. We don’t value rest. Of the develop countries in the world we work by far the most hours.
There are 134 countries that set a max amount of hours workers can work, but not the US. Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers.
Check this out… America is the ONLY industrialized country that has no mandatory annual leave. In other words we don’t really value rest.
To top off our vacation time… The US averages 13 days off. Almost every other developed country (expect Canada and Japan) has 20, up to as many have 30 days. To make matters worse the average American worker will only take 50-60% of their days off. (Create these into a slide)
Maybe you are thinking this is good, hard work is a good thing. But just because we are putting more hours in, doesn’t equal anything good. One study found that Since 1950 Americans productivity had fallen 400%… So we are working more, taking less vacation and sick time, and we are doing substantially less work.
Listen… I’m not tying to make any political statement over this… It’s WAY above my pay grade to decide what the laws of this country should be. But these stats do illuminate exactly how important rest is to us and how little we actually take it.
And I think we can plainly see the signs of it everywhere, including our personal lives.
Truth
God knows this, so it’s no surprise that the Bible talks a lot about rest.
From the very beginning God commanded his people to do this.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. Exodus 20:8-10
The law was even expanded that every seventh year that you don’t plant anything for the whole year. In other words take a whole year off.
This was revolutionary to anything any other culture was doing. The world was very different when this was written thousands of years ago. Grocery stores, lazyboys, and football had not yet been invented. We take things for granted now. Simple tasks we do daily would have taken much longer. So to take a day off would have been seen like you are getting behind. Many cultures in the day simply did not take any time off. So when the Jews started taking Saturdays off people were confused and they stood out as totally different than any other culture.
But there was purpose in this law. And there were two huge benefits to taking this day regularly.
It Allows Rest
Humans have this thought that the more I do, the busier I am, the more I will get done. But that’s simply not true. Studies prove that wrong time and time again. Humans need rest. That’s not a christian statement, that’s a universally true thing. We need rest. God knows this because he designed us. So he commands we do it.
We will actually accomplish more, be more efficient, and be under a lot less stress when we rest. When we take time off our productivity actually increases. Not decreases. We get more done when we rest.
This God gave this commandment purely for the benefit of the Israelites. God wanted the best for the Israelites so he commanded they rest.
Now today we aren’t under the law anymore, when Jesus came he fulfilled the law. In other words we are bound to follow it any more. However Jesus made it clear we shouldn't just throw the law out. It still have great benefit to us. And I think we would be foolish to ignore this. We need the sabbath. We need rest.
That’s why Jesus said Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27
What’s interesting about this passage is Jesus is really revealing the purpose of the Sabbath. You see Jesus and his disciples just got in trouble with the Pharisees… Surprise, surprise… For working on the Sabbath. They are accusing Jesus of breaking the law. And he shocks them by saying this. What he’s doing is flipped the Pharisees way of thinking about the Sabbath. They thought the day was just an other opportunity to show how holy they were, to show how dedicated they were to God.
But Jesus says, no no no… This day is for you. This isn’t a day to symbolically take off. It’s a day that you actually need. The Sabbath is for YOU.
It Builds Trust in God
How many of you have had the thought… There’s no WAY I can take even an hour off right now? I just have to much stuff to do… Anyone? Yeah, me too…
A few weeks ago my wife told me, you need to take a day off… You need a break. I instantly got defensive… I thought you have NO idea how much stuff I have going on. You have no idea what I have to do. You just don’t know. I can’t… Maybe next week, but certainly not this week. You just don’t understand. If I don’t do this then…
Then… Then what?
Really then what? I mean seriously what will happen if I, or you, don’t get that done?
Here’s a really hard truth for me to swallow… I’m not as important as I think I am. I have this thought that if I don’t accomplish this, whatever “this” is, then the world will just stop spinning. But that’s not true. Listen the world will keep spinning and things will continue on after I am gone. And when I rest, when I take a day off, a week off, whatever. It reminds me of my place. God’s in control, not me.
My wife was right… I needed a day off. I hadn’t taken a day off in over a month. I was getting to a place were I thought that if I didn’t do these 100 things then I would fail, this church would stop running, and that’s not true. Because I’m not in control. God is. And I needed a day of rest to recharge me and to remind me that the burden is on God not on me.
I mentioned this earlier. But one of the reasons I think these spiritual disciplines, these timeless truths are so important, is because the Bible doesn’t just talk about them. Jesus actually lived them out.
The writer of Hebrews puts it this way… 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16
Jesus gets it… He knows what it’s like to feel burned out. He knows what it’s like to feel overwhelmed and tired. Jesus can empathize with you. Maybe you have people in your family or your work that are depending on you and you feel like there’s no way you can provide for all their needs. You have to imagine that’s what Jesus felt. Everywhere he went he had 100s sometimes 1000s of sick and needy people pushing and shoving to get to him.
He faced all the same pressures that you and I face… Probably to a greater extent. He gets what you are going through.
Jesus had an incredibly busy life. Yet in the midst of all the business he found time to rest. If you were to read through all the Gospels you would notice all the times Jesus snuck away to be by myself or with just him and his disciples, aka friends.
Jesus would literally sneak away from sick people to go onto a mountain and just rest and pray. Think about that… There were people that desperately needed him. And he said no I need to rest. If God, when he was living in human form needed rest… Don’t you think you do too?
Other times Jesus would escape with just his closest friends. They’d hop on a boat or retreat for some time with just each other. Think about this. They were just starting what would become the biggest religion in the world and they would take a break to just hang out together.
Jesus was constantly retreating to spend time with his friends and to be with God. He regularly rested and recharged. That’s the ONLY way he was able to accomplish his mission. He was modeling what we need to do in our lives. If Jesus needed rest, you do too.
I don’t know about you… But sometimes I think rest is just selfish. So I keep working because I think that’s what everyone around me needs. But listen no one around me needs a burnt out me… No one around Jesus needed a burnt out Jesus. What your friends, your family, your employers, your employees need… Is a well rested you… It’s not selfish… In fact it’s one of the most loving things you can do for those around you.
Application
We need rest. We need real rest… When we sit and stare at the tv for a few hours. That’s not rest. I’m talking about real rest. Where you are actually recharged. We need time with family/friends, we need time to do what fills us, and most importantly we need time with God.
So let’s switch gears and look at how we can do this.
Run to Jesus
Before we do anything else we have to run to Jesus. He’s the ultimate provider. He knows what you are going through. Go to him… If you are exhausted, burned out, maybe you can’t run. But crawl to him.
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says this… “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.” Matthew 11:28-30
God’s plan for you is not for you to be overwhelmed, stressed, or burned out. That’s not what he wants for you. He has such a better plan for you… He wants better for you.
?Notice in this passage Jesus doesn’t say he there’s no burden. In other words you still have responsibilities to do. But if those responsibilities are overwhelming you then you aren’t trusting God. You are trying to do it on your own. Give it to God.
Here’s what this looks like… Having an honest conversation with God telling him what you are feeling. If you are tired, stressed, feel like you cannot make it through one more day, whatever, take that to him. Get alone with God and pour your heart out to him. Not just once, but regularly.
Ask God for peace and for strength. Ask him for help.
Say no to Something
Here’s the reality of most of us… There’s just no way we can rest unless we say no to something… And if you really want to rest then you are going to have do something really really hard. Say no to something important.
Most of us have our lives filled with important things… They are all good things. But our relationship with God and with our families are more important. So if you want to actually rest you are going to have to say no to something. You are going to have to say no to something important for something that is more important.
When you say yes to something you are saying no to a 1000 other things. If you say yes to taking on another work project, an other hobby, an other meeting, an other work trip, whatever… You are saying no to your family, to attending a life group, to spending time with God…. When you say yes to something else you are saying to no to other things.
Make sure you are saying yes to the most important things your life first. And if you are not resting regularly you need to take a look at your life and evaluate what you need to say no too.
I have this battle regularly and it kills me. But I have too do it. It can seem like an impossible decision. But sometimes i just don’t have enough time in the week to get all my work done and be there for my family and recharge. So I have to say no a few projects, I have to ask for help, I have to say you know what this might not be my best work. But I need to go home and be with my family tonight. I have to resist working on my day off so that I can recharge, even if that means something will go undone. Because my rest is more important.
A few weeks ago when my wife told me to take a day off, at first I thought yeah right. But after a few days I realized she was right. So I took a day off. And listen to do so, I had to say no to important things that I needed to get done. I had to leave parts of my responsibilities undone. Because I needed rest more… I needed to be reminded that God is in control and in a very real way trust for him to provide both for me and for the responsibilities that I was leaving undone. That’s what it means to rest.
What do you need to say no too? It’s not easy, but it’s one of the most important things you can do.
Find What Recharges You
What fills you up? What makes you full of energy again? Whatever that is do that. Maybe it’s a hike, sitting on the beach, dinner with friends, building something in the garage, early morning coffee with your spouse, reading a book… Find something that recharges you and do that regularly.
Many of us feel selfish for taking this “me time”. But we need that. Jesus needed it and so do we. And really it’s the opposite of selfish. Think about it this way. Would you rather give your employer, family, neighbors, friends, people depending on you, a tired exhausted you? Or would you rather give them a rest, energized, and ready to go you?
If you want to give them the latter you need to rest. You need to recharge. Resting isn’t selfish… It’s caring for yourself so that you can give more to others. That’s why Jesus rested. He rested so that he had more to give.
You are of little use to others when you are exhausted… In fact you probably do more harm then good. Rest so that you can be a better husband, wife, son/daughter, employee, boss, friend, and follower of Jesus. You need it.
Conclusion
There are some of you in this room that are burned out right now. Others of you are on your way. Some of you maybe just need to be reminded of the importance of taking a day off. Wherever you fall on that skill I want to challenge you this week to take a day off. Not just a day off, but an actually day of rest. A day were you spend time with God, spend time with your family, and do something that recharges you.
I can tell you the relief that comes on the other side of rest is incredible.
When I was in that bad spot several years ago, what I needed was rest. I’ve learned the longer you let your burn out continue, the longer you need to recharge. And I needed a long time. It got to a point where I realized that this job, this position just wasn’t a good fit for me. And I remember kinda bargaining with God… Which never really works. But that doesn’t stop me from trying. But I sensed him telling me that there was an other job out there and that I needed to trust him. And I said fine, I’ll trust you BUT I want to travel first. To my surprise I felt God say okay… To me this time was just a time to have fun. And I thought I snuck in a fast one on God. But really God wanted to use that time to restore and give me the rest that I desperately needed.
So we put our stuff in storage and sold our house. And I remember the week before our house sold. I’m pretty sure I blew up at 100 people. I was exhausted, stressed, probably a little depressed, and I wasn’t really sure about where God was leading us. Even at this point where I got what I wanted I still hadn’t run to God, I was still bearing the burden myself. And when we do that, when we don’t give our worries to God, we end up taking out our stress and our anxieties on those around us. Maybe you’ve experienced that. That’s what I was doing.
The morning after we closed on our house we packed our jeep up with some clothes and our dog and hit the road. The first few days were not restful. We drove from Colorado to Yellowstone, spent a few days there. But my mind, my heart, were still going a millions miles an hour. I could not relax. But I remember the evening we pulled into Newport, Oregon very well. We were going to stay on a condo on the coast for a month or so. Before going inside we ran onto the beach. I don’t know what it was but that moment when my feet hit the sand on a foggy and slightly chilly September Oregon night was the first time in a long time I had let go of all the stress, anxiety, and worry. It was the first time in a long time I had peace. It was the first time in a long time that I was able to say, I didn’t know where God is taking me, but I trusted him.
?I rarely ever sleep over 8 hours a night, I can’t stand it. But that night I slept almost 12 hours. And woke up the next morning feeling like a weight had been lifted off.
It was rest… It took several weeks for me to be fully recharged because I was running on empty for so long. But that time that we spent on the Oregon coast I will always remember as a time that God used to restored me. Because I actually took the time to rest.
Now I don’t want to let myself go back to that place. Here’s the hard truth. It’s nobody responsibility to make me rest except me. I can play the blame game on why I’m running on empty and why it’s everyone but mine’s fault. But the truth is when I am burned out, it’s my fault because I failed to take a day off. It’s my fault because I didn’t run to Jesus, it’s my fault because I didn’t say no, and it’s my fault because I didn’t do anything to charge me.
I think Psalm 23 is fitting… Look at these descriptive words David uses…
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:1-3
Look at the imagery of rest in this chapter… He’s your shepherd, in other words he cares for you. You lack nothing. Makes you lie down in green pastures. Peaceful and restful. Leads you by quiet waters. He refreshes your soul. He guides in the correct way… Why does he do it? For his name sake.
Anybody need that this morning?
This is what God wants for you. He wants you to rest. God never intended for you to carry the weight, the burden that we often put on our own shoulders. God wants more for you than to be stressed, worn out, exhausted…
He wants you to be full of life, energized, and able to trust him throughout whatever comes your way. That’s what God wants for you. That in the midst of chaos you can find peace. That in middle of a busy week you can find rest. That you can be reminder that God is bearing the weight so that you don’t have too. God’s in control and we don’t have to worry.
If this is what you want take a day off. Spend a day doing what energizes you. Say no to work or whatever and spend sometime with your family. But most importantly when you take that day make sure you take some time and run to God first. Tell him your worries. If you are exhausted and have no words left. Turn over to Psalm 23 and just read and sit there. Don’t forget when you rest to take some time and let God recharge you.
God wants you to rest.. And he will lead you there. But you have to follow. He won’t force it. So you are going to have to say no to something. Probably something important. You are going to have to make that space. Until you say no, you won’t find rest and you will struggle to trust God. But when you finally give in. You will find that God is a good God. Who wants what’s best for you.
So when are you going to rest next? When can you regularly find that rest? What or who do you have to say no too? ??Find that time this week… Rest. Recharge. Trust God to provide. You will find more peace, joy, and happiness. And you will be able to love those around you much better.
In just a minute you are going to have the opportunity to take communion… Because of what Jesus did on the cross 2000 years ago is what allows us to find rest today. As the elements are passed take a few minutes and reflect on the work Jesus has done for you. Find rest and peace in that moment. Right here in this room hold the juice and the bread and find a mini moment of rest.
