I. INTRODUCTION
A. READ The Devil’s Convention.
B. Stress-Free Holidays is just the cover for the season because the holidays are so hectic.
1. But these messages – last week, today, and thru December – are applicable to whatever season or depth of busy-ness is overwhelming you.
2. Real rest in the midst of your way too busy life is possible, at least according to Jesus!
C. It is possible, not just because I think it, but because Jesus Himself declares it without question, not however without calling our life focus and source of strength into some question.
“‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
1. There is apparently a place where we can find rest regardless of our circumstances or seasons.
2. A place to which Jesus calls us with only one requirement – come to Him.
3. To find this rest, we must come to Him, placing all our trust in Him to do what He’s promised to do.
4. And what He promises here has to do with rest among the chaotic lifestyles we live everyday.
D. Last week – The Truth About Rest. This week – Relax, Will Ya?
1. Regular and seasonal rest and relaxation are keys to longetivity and effectiveness in both life and ministry.
2. And I am convinced that our busy = important, workaholic American culture is hard-pressed to understand how to rest and particularly relax for longetivity and effectiveness.
3. Most of us think we’re resting and relaxing, yet don’t really know how to shut off and enjoy down time.
E. Many of us think that just because we’re doing something other than work, or participating in an active activity we really enjoy, we’re resting or relaxing.
1. Physically, activity is activity. For instance, most of us fill our vacations (IF we take them) with activity from start to end and come home or return to work more tired than we were before!
2. My goal for this series is to help you find some balance in life, but my goal today is twofold ...
a. that you will see a different view of relaxation and the need for it than you have before, both biblically and practically, and
b. that you will leave today more equipped to enter the kind of rest that Jesus promises in the midst of turbulent times and lifestyles.
3. Here are three keys to finding real relaxation:
II. FINDING REAL RELAXATION:
A. REALIZE REST AND RELAXATION ARE DIFFERENT.
1. Did you know that rest and relaxation are not the same thing?
a. You can get rest and not necessarily relax at the same time.
b. You can be sleeping, which is resting, but have your sleep full of tension.
c. Your body has been provided rest, but you have not experienced relaxation.
d. Those in the fields of stress/anxiety reduction tell us that we may think we’re resting when we’re out on the fairways chasing the little white ball or running errands around town, or shopping at the mall, but in reality, you’re transferring the stress from work, home or relationships from one place in your body to another.
2. Rest and relaxation are not the same thing, just as regular rest and seasonal rest are not the same thing.
a. READ Exodus 23:10-12
b. God outlines in His Word regular rest – 1 day off (no work) every 7 days.
c. He also actually calls for a seasonal rest – every 7 years.
d. Interesting to hear of more and more companies actually offering an extended period of time off for their employees every few years.
e. Jesus repeatedly models time for rest and relaxation daily (not just weekly) throughout the Gospels.
3. Rest and relaxation are intertwined, but not the same, and you need them both daily, weekly, monthly, annually.
a. Divert daily, withdraw weekly, abandon annually.
4. Basic ingredients of relaxation (doesn’t get any more practical than this!!):
a. Sit or lay down comfortably. Minimize discomfort. Loosen tight clothes. Remove your glasses.
b. Eliminate interruptions. Lock the door. Unplug phone. Tell others not to disturb you.
c. Set a timer. 30-45 minutes. Timer helps you to not have to look at clock.
d. Don’t fall asleep. If you need sleep, go ahead; don’t confuse it with relaxing. Falling asleep when relaxing means you probably need more sleep.
e. Remain inactive. Don’t move, fidget, get up. Relaxing lowers adrenaline. If you can’t stay still, you’ll know you’re under the effect of adrenaline withdrawal.
f. Clear your mind of turmoil. Set aside worries. Free yourself for those moments from the demands on you.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7
B. TAKE THE TIME.
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work ... ” Exodus 20:9-10a
(Jesus) “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mk. 6:31
1. One of the chief reasons we don’t get real relaxation regularly is that we don’t take the time to really do it.
a. We find that even Jesus and the disciples struggled – as soon as they get to their destination they are pressed to meet needs.
b. Your pressed and demanded every day to meet needs somehow, somewhere.
c. The more you give mixed with the less you stop for rest, relaxation and recharging — it’s a dangerous and ungodly mix.
2. Crazyswing and Buzzsaw
a. 2 lumberjacks who had the tiring job of clearing a field of trees.
b. The contract called for them to be paid per tree.
c. Crazyswing wanted the day to be profitable, so he grunted and sweated, swinging the axe relentlessly.
d. Buzzsaw, on the other hand, seemed to be working about half as fast. He even took a rest and sat off to the side for a few minutes.
e. Crazyswing kept chopping away until every muscle and tendon in his body was screaming. At the end of the day, Crazyswing was terribly sore, but
f. Buzzsaw was smiling and telling jokes. Amazingly, Buzzsaw had cut down more trees!
g. Crazyswing said, "I noticed you sitting while I worked without a break. How’’d you outwork me?”
h. Buzzsaw smiled. "Did you notice I was sharpening my axe while I was sitting?"
C. ADDRESS YOUR ADRENALINE AND LIVE WITHIN YOUR LIMITS.
“Moses said to the Lord, ‘ ... If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.’ The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’”
Exodus 33:12-14
1. Moses seeking to know God’s ways for himself and those he leads.
a. In verse 14, the Lord says an interesting thing, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
b. Moses didn’t ask for rest, yet God promised him something in the middle of his seeking of God’s ways.
c. That’s the way God usually is; He promises what you really need when you didn’t even know what to ask for — because you didn’t even know you needed it!
2. This story alone amplifies the importance of rest, and our inability to comprehend that we cannot get along without it!
a. Also speaks to the fact that we have human limitations that will never be overcome in this life.
b. Knowing those limits for you is a key to God’s presence going with you, and finding His ways for you.
c. Knowing those limits is not only a key to finding God’s ways for balance in life, but it’s an issue of stewardship as well.
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
3. Adrenaline is a resource God has created in us that we can and should steward effectively.
a. The chemical in your body known as the “fight or flight mechanism”.
b. When fear, anxiety, or even pleasurable excitement happens within you, that sensation you feel is adrenaline pumping through your body.
4. Significant research shows that anytime adrenaline flows, it overtaxes the human body throughout – muscles, nerves, tendons, organs.
a. Important to realize and remember that adrenaline produces stress on the body, whether it’s flowing for positive or negative reasons.
b. If you don’t understand the effects of stress and learn how to deal with it efficiently and effectively, you walk the road of stress disease, which wears on your body more than we know.
c. When we choose to pass on by this truth, it is very much like bad stewardship of the resource (body and adrenaline) that God has given each of us.
5. Research shows you can actually become addicted to adrenaline.
a. Study has shown that we actually can train ourselves to produce the adrenaline in our body and get it flowing, leading to a “high” being created.
b. And that high can become a form of drugging ourselves.
c. When we get addicted to that high, the addicitng activity actually produces changes in the brain that are the same as or similar to changes produced by drugs.
d. The effect is pleasure — an artificial high gear!
6. I’ve known this for years, and only this year have I actually come to terms with my own addiction to adrenaline.
a. I’m coming to terms with this in my own life and seeing it in many, many others through work addiction.
b. Our American culture resists the concept of work addiction – we just don’t know what to do with it.
c. We don’t even realize that we actually promote work addiction.
d. If you don’t believe this is the case, ask yourself who gets the raises and promotions where you work.
e. I could go on, and haven’t even gotten close to how to deal with it.
7. Back of your notes has some info on evaluating the possibility of adrenaline dependence for yourself.
a. We’ll continue to address this throughout the rest of the series.
III. CONCLUSION
A. However, probably the best thing we can do is resource you for greater understanding of these issues.
B. As we continue the Stress-Free Holidays series, we will have available for your purchase a few of the books I am using for my own recovery as well as for research for this series.
C. It’s part of leading you to water — I can lead you to water, but I can’t make you drink.
D. One is the book I mentioned last week, The Hard Work of Rest. Another is called Adrenaline and Stress, by Arch Hart.
E. Invitation/Prayer/Dismissal
