Unplugged Session 2-- LET GO
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Introduction
Introduction
Last night we continued a discussion that we started having last week, about our need to slow down and seek stillness in the middle of a really chaotic world. — But once we slow down we start to notice all the things that we are carrying but were never meant to…
In Church and in different Christian circles, there is a lot of talk about letting go, giving things to God, Surrendering to God, and so on and so forth.
But it’s become one of those things or one of those sayings that gets said so much that we’re actually not super sure what we’re saying —
I remember growing up in sports I was constantly carrying this pressure of being good enough… And that kept me up at night, it would occupy my mind at school, and at church on Sunday mornings. — I had to be good enough, the idea of not being good enough because someone was outworking me was simply unacceptable. — So I started to compare myself to everyone else… I lost sight of the fact that I was extremely blessed to just be healthy enough to play. No matter what I did it was never going to be good enough — and I obsessed over it— and there were stretches where it led me to be super unhealthy, I couldn’t be happy
And we all do this — we carry the pressure to be better students, to be better sons, to be better daughters, we have no boundaries because we need our coaches, parents, teachers, and bosses to be happy with us… we’re stressed about the future (will I get into my dream school? will I get the pay raise or the promotion?) Sometimes we carry the regret of the past (I can’t believe I said this, or I did that) — All too often we carry this need to be in complete control of our lives… but it feels like life is crumbling when all the things that are out of our control derail our plans…
We say that we want peace but we refuse to loosen our grip on all these things that we are carrying…
In the book of Philippians the Apostle Paul wrote:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Notice what comes first here. Not peace — Surrender…
Prayer is not just talking to God, It’s also a transfer of trust… And that’s acknowledging to ourselves and to God by saying “Lord, I cannot carry these burdens the way I have been trying to...”
But we cling to control because we hope control will make us feel safe — if we can control the outcomes we will be okay… If we can do damage control when things are going wrong then we can mitigate the damage and limit how much we may get hurt. — But control is heavy…
You cannot cling to control, trying to pull and hold everything together and also hope to receive peace and rest at the same time. — we only have two hands we can’t carry all of that together…
a lot of us feel exhausted because we have been trying to carry all these things that God never intended for us to carry!
But there’s hope! Because 1 Peter 5:7 says:
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
It’s funny because usually whenever I need help and I ask someone for a favor — I tend to do it very delicately… like “heeeey, if it’s not too much of an inconvenience can you please help me with this— unless you’re too busy right now of course!”
But that’s not at all how the apostle Peter phrases this— Again Hear this: 1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Don’t delicately or lightly place your anxieties and burdens on the Lord — Cast it. Throw it. Why? — Because he cares for you. That’s it.
He loves you!! God’s not annoyed by the things that are giving you anxiety! He’s not disappointed that you’re struggling.
But Because he loves you He is inviting you to let him carry all the things that have been crushing you!
A few weeks ago we looked at Matthew 11:28-30 which says
“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.”
This is who our God is! He says come to me all who are weary and He will give our souls true rest! He tells us to give him all the things that are burdening us and giving us anxiety… He wants us… The real us… Not the buttoned up church version… No fake smiles… The Come as you are real versions of us —
Surrender is coming to God and praying “Jesus, I’m tired of pretending that I’m fine when I don’t feel fine”, “Jesus I don’t know how to fix this!” or “Jesus, I’m scared of what’s next.”
And we can do this because our God is faithful! He has never not shown up! Because our God that is the same God that led his people out of Egypt, who guided and sustained his people for 40 years of wandering through the wilderness, Who’s given sight to the blind, healed the sick, and the paralyzed, died a painful death on the cross and rose from the grave three days later so that we may have the future hope of glory and eternal life — Any promise God has ever made, He has kept!
And in Matthew 11:28 , Jesus makes a promise: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
— It’s not come to me and your life will be easier — Jesus promises come to me, and I will give you rest…
— You still have school (sorry about it), you still have responsibilities, you still have relationships you need to keep up with — But you don’t have to carry the load by yourself. Jesus wants to walk along side you and He wants to help you carry the weight.
Because peace doesn’t come not having anything to carry, it comes from knowing who carries the load with you…
— You may be sitting there thinking to yourself that some of this is easier said than done. “Sure it’s easy to say that I’ll surrender everything that is giving me anxiety to God But when I’m feeling the weight of my anxiety pushing down on my chest, making it hard to breathe, it’s a different story”
— You have to understand why we were never meant to carry these burdens.
The burden to be good enough that so many of us carry (to be the best player on the team, to be the best son or daughter that makes our parents proud, to be good enough for people to like us and want to be around us) We all know that feeling — we’ve felt it before — but here’s why we were never meant to carry this burden — It’s because we aren’t good enough… No one here is “good enough” to earn their salvation, no one has ever been good enough that they earned the right for Jesus to die for them… But God is good enough
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
— No one is good enough. But he took what we all deserve, and he made us new, he gives us rest and peace in knowing he is always there. — — — That’s the beauty of God’s grace!
And that’s why we exist. That’s Why we are here… That is the wonderfully good news of the gospel!! Jesus did not wait for us to be good enough! Jesus took on the cross and saves us because we could never be enough!! — He lived the perfect life that we could never live, he cleansed us of the sins that we could never cleanse ourselves of, he died the death we deserved, and he rose from the grave so we could be free!
There is true peace that comes from understanding that we don’t have to prove ourselves anymore! In fact we can boast in our weakness — We can proudly say “I am not enough, But My God is more than enough!! — You don’t need to fight for God’s approval because when you come to him as you are He is already looking at you as his Son or His daughter.
We don’t obey God so that He will love us
We can obey God because He loves us — and desires what is ultimately good for us!
This is why surrendering to God ultimately leads to peace
Because surrendering is us saying “God, I trust you more than I trust myself.” — “God, I don’t have to control everything” — God, I don’t have to try to be enough, Because I know you already are.”
That’s not weakness — That’s freedom, That is true and lasting peace!
