A New Calling, New Behaviors (3)

How many of you ever sat down and thought about the attributes we give Jesus?

Redemer, Savior, Lord, The Word, The Bread of Life, I AM, King of Israel, Deliverer, Prince of Peace, Help in our times of Trouble, Corner stone and the list goes on. We have this amazing Savior that we worship and we follow. We trust, we obey. We walk out our salvation. But this week a New attribute was revealed to me.

TIRED

How many of you are tired. I’m not talking sleepy, but you’ve been beat up, worn down, you are spiritually and physically tired. Your muscles feel like they can’t go on another step. Live is a struggle. We give all these attributes the God side of Jesus, but we forget he was equally human.

John 4:1–6 ESV

1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

The Pharasees were beating up on Jesus. I don’t care who you are negative people will wear you out. And John wouldn’t have mentioned the Pharasees if they didn’t contribute to Jesus’ tiredness. Satan has placed negative people to wear you out on a spiritual and soul level. I do physical labor for a living. And there is a huge difference between physical exhaustion and mental/spiritual exhaustion.

Some of us this morning are mentally and physically drained and I am here to tell you that it doesn’t make you any less Christian to mentally or physically tired because because it doesn’t make Christ any less God because he was tired.

You have been beating yourself up for too long trying to be energetic and happy when it’s ok to be tired. It’s ok to need rest. It’s ok to need rest. Not only was Jesus mentally tired he Just got done walking 70 miles. That’s 28 miles a day for 2.5 days that Jesus walked. It as the heat of the day. Jesus was tired. He was exhausted. So he sat.

He sat in a place that was prepared centerures before and recalled in the book of Genesis chapter 28. We talked about this last week but some of you might need to hear it again. God planned a place for Jesus to rest 1,800 years before the women would meet Jesus. 1,800 years this encounter was planned and arranged to meet the need of the Samaritan women.

Listen someone needs to hear this: Just because you are tired doesn’t mean you are weak. Just because you are tired doesn’t mean you are failing. Jesus isn’t weak, Jesus didn’t fail, but Jesus got tired. Being tired means you are on a journey. You know who doesn’t get tired. Lazy people. People who don’t do anything or go anywhere. If you’re tired, and I’m not necissarly talking about physical exhaustion. But if your mentally, spiritually, emotionally exhausted it’s ok. You’re on a journey of great importance. But you need to rest. Jesus rested.

Some people this morning might have been taught that you aren’t holy if you’re tired. I remember preachers of old screaming that they can rest in heaven. That people needed them. That the work was too great to stop and rest. You don’t have faith if you sit.

I heard a preacher this week state:

Faith doesn’t prevent fatigue; it just gives me a place sit.

Faith brings us to the feet of Jesus so that we can rest a while. You aren’t better than Jesus and Jesus rested.

This bring us to the women. My kids work with me. I hope that I instill in them a work ethic that will keep their bellies full and muscles strong. But my kids work with me from time to time and it’s funny because I hate water. People say it doesn’t have a taste, but it taste nasty. When I’m doing physical labor my body will crave water. I’ll go through gallons of water. I believe it was Dom, he was with me and I’m chugging water. He looks at me and says:

Dad, You drink water? Now this is a teachable moment right? So I go into the bodies need for water over drinks in order to sustain ones energy. If I only drank Iced tea (which is my favorite drink) it could kill me. My body is thinking it’s getting something, but in the end will wind up dry.

Some of what we drive ourselves to for hydration when we are tired is actually killing us faster.

What is your crutch? You see the women at the well, her crutch was NON COMMITTED RELATIONSHIPS. She dated married men so she could satisfy her thirst without the committment. She had a damaged whole in her soul that she was trying to heal, but little did she know that day that she had an appointment with the Dr. And the Dr. Was in. He was bringing living water to satisfy her thirst. He was bring healing to years of abuse and neglect.

John 4:10 (ESV)

10 ...“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

God made a divine appointment to bring rest to her soul.

You may run to fiction books, You may run to TV, you may run to country music, but your crutch isn’t bringing healing its only making you rely more on that crutch. God desires take remove you crutch and stiffen your back so that you are made whole.

God is saying this morning that your back is out of wack. You’ve been walking funny and you’re tired. But God desires to give you water from a well that never runs dry.

Jesus sat down at the well because he knew that there would be this women coming to the well and needing to find hope. He made the appointment, put it on her calendar, and showed up for her in a way that only God can. There is a divine appointment for you this morning to come and find rest. There is a divine appointment for you this morning to find healing.

Jesus says I know your tired. I was tired too. I know your weary, I was weary too. I know you wanted to give up I wanted to give up too. Why do you think Jesus prayed 3 times to take the cup from him? His human self didn’t want to do it anymore. His human self wanted a way out. So he went to the garden to pray. He went to the garden to find rest. He went to the garden and when he stood up he had enough strength to say not my will but your will be done Lord.

This is your garden. This is where you draw strength from so that when you rise from your time with God you have the strength to say not my will but your will be done. The God of the angle armies surrounded this church this morning and built this place of protection just like he did that noon time at the well so that you can come to your scheduled appointment and meet with Jesus and find the rest you need. Drink the nutrients you need. And muster the strength you need to get through another week.

God desires to give you rest.