Untitled Sermon (21)

Our focus Scripture this morning are three verses from the gospel, Mark 6:30-34

Mark 6:30-44 (ESV) 30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves

How many of you feel “rested” this morning?

You know it is great to live in a modern age with all kinds of “time saving devices, so we can rest more. Devices like the microwave to cook our food faster. The smart phone to carry our work with us and make phone calls wherever we are so we can rest more.

BUT maybe you have found, like me, that all these wonderful devices simply add more events, expectations, busyness, and burdens to our lives.

Now the Bible is very clear how hurrying and busyness affect our lives in four ways:

1) When we hurry more, we feel more stress.

Solomon wrote:

Song of Solomon 1:6 TEV “I had no time to care for myself.”

2. When life gets hurried we lose our joy. Have you noticed that the faster you move through life the less time you have to enjoy the life that God has given to you.

Job said, “My days go by faster than a runner. They fly away without my seeing any joy.” Job 9:25 (NCV)

I’ve noticed that when in a hurry while driving, my stress level is off the charts.

I heard people say, “We shouldn’t rest because the devil never takes time to rest.” Who says the devil should be our model? God took time to rest & enjoy what He made and He teaches us to enjoy the things that He’s made and to take time to rest.

3. When we are hurry we are less productive.

We think, the faster we go the more we will get done but the truth is the faster you go the less productive we become. It is called the law of diminishing returns.

Proverbs 21:5 (MSG) “Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run. Hurry and scurry puts you further behind.” And maybe you feel the way I often do: “The faster I go the behinder I get.”

If you don’t take time to plan you won’t be effective.

4. When we hurry we can’t hear God.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”

Have you ever wondered if God is trying to get a message through but all the circuits are so busy we can’t hear Him. Busyness is the great destroyer of our relationship with God. When was the last time you took time to be still so that God could tell you: “I love you. I care about you. I hurt about what you’re going through. I have a plan for this situation.”

Let’s look today at four principles using the letters R E S T to help us think about making a dramatic life change that God desires for us in Christ.

R- Remember the Sabbath day.

God gave the LAW to us so that following and obeying it we can live a blessed life.

Exodus 20:9-10 “You have six days in which to do your work but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to Me.”

God didn’t give us His commands to make our lives miserable. He gave us the Bible, His owner’s manual, to make life a whole lot easier, and less stressful.

Now if order has anything to do with priority, notice that God places this commandment to “REST” before commandments 4-10. Now, many of us would say, “I’d never murder anybody. I’d never steal. I’d never have an affair,” but how often do we violate this commandment. God gave us the Sabbath to work six days and one day a week to recharge, to “stop” and rest.

1) God us the Sabbath to rest your body . Your body was designed to take a day off each week to rest your body. Our best requires rest.

2) God us the Sabbath to recharge your emotions . Quietness and being with people you love recharges us emotionally.

3) God gave you the Sabbath to refocus your spirit. That’s called “worship.” When you come to worship you remember how big God is and that your problems aren’t as big as God and His grace and power. The more time you spend alone with God, reading the Bible, letting Him talk to you, and you talking to God, the more you find your rest in God.

E- Everyone needs to learn to say “No”.

Many of us have great difficulty saying “no.” This is the number one reason we struggle to find time to rest.

Proverbs 20:25 “A impulsive vow is a trap. Later you wish you could get out of it.”

Have you ever asked yourself? “Why did I say yes to this ? Maybe you have noticed that it’s always easier to get in something than it is to get out of things in life? It’s always easier…to get into debt than out of debt…into trouble than out of trouble, it is easier to gain weight, than it is to lose it? …to fill up your schedule than to find time in your schedule.

Now before we run out of church this morning and start saying “No” to everything, do an assessment of your life to determine what needs to be stopped right now. That leads to the S.

S –Stop the constant push for more.

This is the starting point in slowing down the pace of your life. It is not in clearing your calendar. You can go home today and clear your calendar for the next three months, and unless you deal with the root issue, all the activities will simply fill up again.

The root of the issue is: What is it that drives you to constantly keep pushing for more? Why are we always trying to achieve more, have more money, do more things, experiences more thrills and pleasures? The answer?

We try to prove our worth by what we do. As long as we confuse our worth with our work, we will always be pushing ourselves do to, get, and achieve more. BUT THE TRUTH IS:

you are valuable because God made you, and sent His Son Jesus to die for you, because He loves you.

Your value before God was set by the blood, sweat, and tears of the Son of God, who loved you and gave Himself for YOU. Until we are believe that, we will always strive to do more and struggle to find time to rest.

Ecclesiastes 4:6 “It is better to have only a little with peace of mind than be busy all the time.”

The letter T - Wait for God’s Timing.

Raise your hand if you like to wait? It is not one of my great skills, but I am convinced that impatience is our failure to wait on God. Impatience says, “God, I’m not sure You know what’s best for me.” So instead of waiting for God, we hurry, we strive, we struggle and we sweat to do and to get what we think we need or want right now.

The Bible’s very clear that God has a unique plan – for your life.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God also has a unique timetable for fulfilling that plan. The challenge is: He doesn’t tells us His timetable.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “God does everything just right and on time but people can never completely understand what He’s doing.”

Why won’t God tell us His plan in advance or share His timetable for our lives?

Because waiting on God requires Faith! Faith please God. And God wants you and me to trust Him. I am going to quote Psalm 62:8 for the third week in a row.

Psalm 62:8 (NIV) 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

When we wait on God we demonstrate our trust in God, “God, I don’t know what You’re going to do or when You’re going to do it, but I am going to trust You with my life.”

Trusting God is where we find the better life. The Better life is not found in possessions or position it is in learning to rest in the hands of God.

Video: He Got the Whole World in His hands.

Let’s pray… Father, you know those among us today who are tired, overloaded, and stretched to their capacities. Even though we feel the push in our culture that says, “go for more, go for the better, go faster,” Your Word calls us to be still and know that YOU are God. We want to enjoy the lives You have given to us, not just endure them. We want sanity and simplicity back into our schedules, to live balanced healthy lives. We want to have more time for the relationships that matter most – with You, with those we love in our families and church. Lord Jesus, take all the pieces of our life and help us sort them all out. We need a manager of our lives who is also our Savior. Help us to make the changes we need to make in order to live the better life, the blessed life, the abundant life you sent Your Son to give us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”