Sermon Tone Analysis

Overload

Well, thank you for joining me today.

I believe that we're gonna have a really good time, sharing the word about stress and being overloaded.

Have you ever gone to the doctor with pain, headaches, stomach problems, sleep issues, and had them tell you, "It's just stress"?

You know, I did and it just made me angry.

I wouldn't admit that I couldn't do everything.

I mean, I guess for years, I would go to the doctor with different complaints, and they would say, "It's just stress".

Well, it just made me mad.

I thought, "It can't just be stress".

Well, you know, we all have stress and God has prepared our bodies to handle a normal amount of it.

But when we get out of balance, we will get sick, grouchy, difficult to get along with, we will explode over minor issues, and other similar things.

And we also open a door for the devil.

1 Peter 5:8 teaches us that we need to be well-balanced.

Because our adversary, the devil, roams about like a lion roaring in fierce hunger, seeking whom he may devour.

So, when you are stressed out, out of balance, it opens the door for the enemy to get into your life, and cause you to behave in a way that is ungodly.

But you know, Jesus was surrounded by stressful situations, and yet he was always at peace.

We're gonna talk more about that in a minute.

I have a little example I wanna show you.

This is a backpack, and I'm gonna put it on here in just a minute.

But we're gonna say these rocks are, you know, I get up in the morning and everything's fine.

And then, let's just say that I see a little patch of grass out in my backyard, that looks like maybe it's got some kind of a fungus.

Well, that kinda bothers me.

But we'll see.

I mean, it's not too awfully horrible.

And then, I look over and my neighbor hasn't cut their grass in two weeks, and it just looks terrible.

And they really don't take very good care of their house, and that aggravates me, because that affects my house.

And so, I'm carrying that around.

And then let's say that I have a real big argument with my husband.

"Man, he made me mad".

Now, that was a little bigger and this thing's gettin' heavier here.

And then, I go to work and there's been a wreck on the highway, and I sit in traffic for two and a half hours.

I'm gonna be late for work.

My boss is not gonna be happy.

Now, I'm worried about that.

And then, I finally get to work and I can't find a parking place.

I drive around, and around, and around, and because I'm late, I can't find a parking place.

Well, now I'm just getting' more stressed out by the minute.

And I'm thinking about all these things: "My grass is bad, the neighbors aggravating me, traffic's horrible, had a fight with my husband," on, and on, and on.

Then, I get a call from the bank, my account is overdrawn.

"Well, how can my account be overdrawn?

I have got money in the bank".

Well, obviously something's wrong, it's either wrong with my accounting, or something's wrong at the bank.

But I can't do anything about it until I get home.

So, now I gotta carry that around all day.

Well, then I go through my day, but I have this thing, I'm carrying this load now, all day, all day.

Hours are going by, and I'm carrying this load, and it's dragging me down.

You know, this is a good example of what happens when we're trying to do everything we do.

But at the same time, we're worrying, and we're stressed out, got all these things on our mind, that we don't have to have our mind, because the Bible says we can, "Cast all of our care on him, because he cares for us".

So, guess what?

If I believe that, I can drop this load.

Whoo! "Boy, do I feel better".

And you know what?

If you're overloaded today, you can do the exact same thing.

You can drop your load, and you can do it just that fast, and come into a place of peace.

Jesus never asked us to carry the load.

He said, "Cast your care on me, because I care for you".

Jesus was always at peace, and yet he was rejected by family and friends.

He was so good, and yet he was accused of being evil.

He was never left alone by sick and needy people, who constantly wanted him to help them.

He couldn't even hardly rest or eat, because people were constantly wanting him to help them.

Maybe you feel like that in your own house.

It's like you can't even hardly sit down, because the kids need this, and the husband needs this, and your mom calls, and you know, your just like, "Whaaaa"!

You know, his disciples needed a lot of correction.

He was mentoring them to carry the Gospel to the whole world, and he only had a short time to do it.

And they acted like such babies much of the time.

One of his own disciples betrayed him, for thirty pieces of silver.

Peter denied even knowing him three times.

At a time when he needed them most, his disciples fell asleep, when he had just asked them to pray with him for one hour.

And even in the midst of all this, Jesus reMained peaceful.

Anytime you think about Jesus, you never think about somebody who's like, "Whaaaa," frustrated, and fretful, and worried.

You know, one of the reasons was, because he knew how to walk away from the crowds, when he needed to go somewhere and pray, get refreshed, and trust his father in heaven, with every single problem that he had.

Jesus understood the weaknesses of men, and he had no unrealistic expectations concerning them.

So, he wasn't even all that surprised, when his disciples did some of the things that they did, because he knew that human flesh, when it was tempted, would very often cave in.

I love Philippians 4:6 and 7. I meditate on this scripture a lot, "Do not be anxious about anything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving", each one of these things are important, "Let your requests be made known unto God: and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus".

We don't have to hang on to our problems.

We can pray, give them to God, be thankful.

You know, one of the things that helps is, instead of being all upset about the problems you have, be thankful for the problems you don't have.

You know, maybe you're frustrated because you got a headache today, but you don't have cancer.

I mean, no matter what kinda problem we have, there's always a worse problem we could have.

And we could be thanking God for protecting us from that problem.

Peace is so wonderful.

Colossians 3:15 in the Amplified says, "Let peace (act as an umpire in your life continually) [deciding and settling with finality, every question that arises in your mind]".

So, what do I do when I have a decision to make?

Well, I need to not do anything I don't have peace about.

We cause a lot of our own problems, because we do things that deep down inside, we already know are not gonna work out good, but it's what we want, so we do it anyway.

"And be thankful", there it is again.

"Be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]".

And I love this scripture, 1 Peter 3:10 and 11 in the Amplified Bible.

"Let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good, whether apparent or not]", now, listen to this, "Keep his tongue free from evil".

What we say affects our joy.

"Keep his lips from guile (treachery and deceit).

And let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right" now, watch this, "Let him search for peace".

See, sometimes, you have to seek peace.

You gotta search for it.

You can't just hope it's gonna fall on you.

Be free from all, "(agitating passions, and fear, conflicts) and seek it eagerly".

Boy, the Amplified Bible lays it out clear, "[do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowman, and with yourself, but pursue, and go after them.]"

three areas where we need to have peace: peace with God, peace with ourself, and peace with people.

And all of those are things that you're gonna have to seek, and pursue, and pray about, and study, and make an effort to do.

There are so many things that cause stress.