What Do We Need Most Today?

 WHAT DO WE NEED MOST TODAY?

Psalm 23:2, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”

THE SHEPHERD CAUSES US TO RECLINE CHEERFULLY IN LUSH GRASSLANDS

Let us pray, “Father, I do thank you that when I sleep, you do not. Thank you for working on my concerns,

answering my prayers, sustaining my world, and doing your work while I sleep. I cannot comprehend it, but I

am truly thankful that you are the God who does not tire or grow weary in doing what is good and what is a

blessing. I recognize that all the good things I have in my life have come because of your blessing. I praise

you for your mercy and grace that sustain me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

I. WHAT DO YOU GUESS? I Will give you the consequences can you guess the cause? 70 million

Americans suffer from it and it causes 38,000 death in a year. The productivity that is lost cost the USA $70

billion a year. 64% of our teenagers have poor performance in school because of it. It is between the ages of

30-40 that people suffer most severely. In those over 60 years of age 50% are impacted by this condition. The

treatments to help this are everything from mouth guard to herbal teas to medications. What is your guess?

Some of you might say abuse, divorce, long sermons, Internet information, reading to much news or listening

to it. The answer is insomnia. America does not get enough sleep. Let us think what happens to many people.

They crawl in bed. We want to turn over and fall asleep but all of a sudden our minds go to work on all the

things that we need to do. So we toss and turn until late. We get up and drink a glass of milk and say now I

will sleep as we take our minds off of our to do list but now people come to our minds and we lay awake

wondering about them or maybe it could be money or maybe physical pain. No matter what it is, we wake the

next morning still tired because of all our thinking.

II. How do we handle our need?

Since we do not sleep it gives us a second problem, we do not perform well at what we have to do doing the

day because we are half a wake or we even catch ourselves taking a nap when we should we doing something.

So everyday 30 tons of aspirins, sleeping pills and tranquilizers are taken every day so that we might sleep.

So if we would ask an alien to analyze our problem he would say everybody needs to sleep. But we laugh

for we need to work hard, there is money to be made, degrees to be earned, ladders to be climbed and doesn’t

the Bible have a verse that says, “business is next to godliness?”

Have we gotten wiser with age? In 1910 people slept 9 hours a night, but if we get in 7 hours we think we are better

off, but we are tired. Our minds are tired. Our souls are tired. Our bodies are tired. It seems that in God’s economy He

has made man so that he needs 8 hours of sleep each night.

Real church is not a museum to be enjoyed but a restaurant where we get our souls fed. We choose if we will eat.

This is what used to be called walking in the light and Scripturally still is.

In the Lord’s prayer we say “Give us this day.....” So everyday He supplies. Elijah, Israelites, sparrows. Now there

are some who would like it perhaps if they could go to church once a year and have enough so they would not have to

go back again. God says once a week you need to meet Me in my house. So if you have trouble with this, talk to Him.

Lets look at the other creatures in this world that do not have our trouble. Dogs, they doze. Bears they hibernate. Cats

are always finding a warm spot and sleeping. Sloths sleep 20 hours a day. There are animals that sleep standing up. Most

animals know that they need rest and take it. There is one to which the Bible likens to us that do not sleep well and that

is sheep. For the sheep things have to just right. No tension in the flock. No wolves on the lurch. No bugs in the air. No

hunger pains. With sheep they do not know how to find safe pasture, or to spray insecticide on themselves, or deal with

frictions or find food. They need a shepherd to lead them and to help them lie down in green meadows. You see without