Refreshed and Rekindled Through Relationship
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning. I am excited today. I believe God is going to move in our lives today. If you are here today and need comfort, encouragement, or hope, I believe today you will receive it.
Hopefully during this Series you have been experiencing refreshment and are being rekindled. Today we will continue our Series.
Definition of lonely
Definition of lonely
1a: being without company : LONEtoo many lonely nights at homeb: cut off from others : SOLITARYthe train stopped frequently at lonely little stations— Robert Hichens
2: not frequented by human beings : DESOLATEa lonely spot in the woods
3: sad from being alone : LONESOMEHe was feeling lonely without his wife and children.
4: producing a feeling of bleakness or desolation it's a lonely thing to be a champion— G. B. Shaw
Many times in Christian circles or at church people are tempted to put a mask on. When asked how are you doing? The common response is fine or good, even if that is the farthest from the truth.
Listen to a few people describe their situation:
“My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” Ps. 38:4 David
“I have had enough Lord, he said. Take my life, I am not better than my ancestors.” 1 Kings 19:4 Elijah
“Now O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 4:3 Jonah
“Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?” Job 3:11
“I have no peace, no quietness, I have no rest, but only turmoil.” Job 3:26
“I loathe my very life, therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.” Job 10:1
“Terrors overwhelm me…my life ebbs away, days of suffering grip me. Night pierces my bones, my gnawing pains never rest.” Job 30:15-17
Have you been there before. Where it felt like everything was against you or nothing could go right? Those folks were at a place of despair and loneliness. Those statements I just read were from men of God: David, Elijah, Jonah, and Job.
The enemy would like for you and I to be isolated. He would like us to be alone, afraid, and depressed. He can only do that if you and I allow him to.
Please turn in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes 4.
Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon. In chapter 1 of Ecclesiastes King Solomon concluded that life was meaningless and monotonous. However in this chapter Solomon recorded his observations from visiting different places and watching several people go through a variety of experiences. His conclusion was that life is anything but monotonous.
1 Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. 2 So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living. 3 But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.
4 Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
5 “Fools fold their idle hands,
leading them to ruin.”
6 And yet,
“Better to have one handful with quietness
than two handfuls with hard work
and chasing the wind.”
7 I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. 8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.
9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
King Solomon makes a few observations.
He observes a court case where the person on trial is being oppressed. Ecclesiastes 4:1-2.
Then he observes that people are motivated by envy. Ecclesiastes 4:4-6.
Then he observes a person that is all alone. Ecclesiastes 4:7-8.
This morning I want to focus on the person who was all alone. King Solomon said that his situation was meaningless and depressing. Isolation and loneliness are direct attacks from the enemy.
God did not create us to be alone and isolated. Check out these verses in Genesis.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
But look what God says after he creates man.
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
God says it is not good for us to be alone. We were not created to live life on our own. We were created for relationship.
Listen to what this pastor says about his experience as he wrote about burnout:
“In the waning summer months of last year, I noticed myself taking a journey to a place I vowed I would never go. I realized where this road was taking me when a certain thought crossed my mind as I was stepping up to preach the first of our four weekend services. It sounded like this: I don’t even want to do this. In fact, I don’t even like this anymore.
Now hear me. I love leading. I love the Church. And I love preaching. That is why this was a red-flag moment for me.
In the months leading up to that moment, our family engaged the adoption process, and the paperwork was becoming a serious amount of work. Along with this, our church was launching new service times, and we were in the middle of remodeling our kitchen.
All these happenings, as exciting as they were, added to the weight I was already feeling in ministry. I also felt the weight of not knowing anyone else my age who was leading a church our size or with our specific challenges. I had felt the weight of staff resignations that occurred for various reasons. In short, I felt the weight of leading in an area of the country that does not have the climate, beaches, or summer breeze of an island, but in that season, seemed like a total island. And I felt like its lone castaway.”
Loneliness and isolation will lead to burnout, throwing in the towel. Can you relate to his experience? He felt like he was the only one and abandoned. The enemy knows we were created for relationship and he will do whatever it takes to keep us from relationship with God and healthy relationships with others.
The enemy does that through:
Offense: He speaks lies to us that cause us to be offended.
Division: Once offended division takes root and divides.
Isolation: Then isolation, the feeling of not being able to talk to anyone.
The enemy will speak any lie to us to rob us of relationship.
Remember “It’s not good for man to be alone.”
So what’s the answer?
9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
Community is the answer. We are refreshed and rekindled through community.
Community with God
Community with others.
We’ve been discussing being refreshed and rekindled for a few weeks now. If we will take time and invest into our relationship with God and others, we will be refreshed and rekindled.