Today, we end our talk on the number one growing disease in the Western World, stress.  We are excited to start our new series on Relationships, especially with the Holidays coming.

In this Stress series, we laid out a practical pathway on how to deal with stress God’s way.  We also shared daily podcasts that answered specific questions about stress.  This coming week, the Ready Heart podcast talks about what is rest vs. real rest.  What is good tired vs. dangerously tired?  And why can’t we just stop?  The podcasts in this series have been so helpful.

We started with the intro to stress and answered three questions: what stress is, who experiences it, and how we manage it.  Then step 1: we let go and let God lead.  The first practical step in dealing with stress is going to God and being honest that we come up short.  Step 2: We trust God even as life unfolds in ways we don’t like.  Why?  Because life unfolds differently than we expect.  Step 3: Focus matters.  What you focus on forms you and then ultimately your life.  Step 4: Where do you take your stress?  Sam explained that stress piles up and wants to keep you stressed.   Stress screams at us that life is too much to handle, we should escape, be numb, and be distracted from the realities of life.  However, God’s Word tells us, instead of looking to the things of this world to take the edge off, we need to turn to God.  Then Step 5.  Probably the most overlooked and undervalued step, choices.  Why?  Because we seem to separate our “real” lives from our “faith” lives.  We don’t see that our practical choices are profoundly spiritual.  Remember the quote Sam gave us?

“Seventy percent of global deaths are attributable to modifiable behavioral risk factors like smoking, physical inactivity, and diet. The leading global risks for mortality are high blood pressure (13 %), tobacco use (9 %), high blood sugar (6 %), physical inactivity (6 %), and obesity (5 %).” Via Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke

Today, we talk about the most misunderstood step.  To do that, I need to give you context, so we are going way back into the Old Testament.   The Jewish people were slaves for around 400 years.  You probably know the story of how God confronted and crushed Pharaoh’s hard heart through the ten plagues.  Ultimately, because of God, Israel was freed from slavery.  Thirty days later, God gives Israel the Ten Commandments.  Why?  Because, as slaves for 400 years, they were a demoralized culture.  God had to begin the process of rebuilding their nation.   God began by laying the foundation of what it means to be His chosen people.  The first four commandments taught how they were to treat God.  The other six commandments taught how to treat each other.  And of course, when Jesus came, he summarized the entire law into two things.  Love God and love others.  

To understand the context of that time, we need to understand that the Ten Commandments were very radical.  I want to share with you, probably one of the most radical commandments God gave.  It was so radical that no other ancient society had ever heard of this or implemented it.  This one command is so radical that we struggle to understand it and live it out today.  Ready?

Exodus 20:8 Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work.  NLT

God commanded rest.   Up to this moment, only the rich, like a king, were able to rest.  But God changed all that.  Now, everyone was commanded to rest for one day.  For the first time, everyone had equal value.  It was unheard of.  The whole idea of Sabbath rest was odd.  Other countries made fun of the Sabbath.  They accused the Israelites of being lazy and wasting time.  But God created the Sabbath as a mark on their culture that said, ‘You are my chosen people, and I will care for you.’

The Israelites experienced oppressive, endless, daily work for 400 years.  They had no value, they were slaves, they were disposable.  And now for the first time, they were learning a new way to live.  A Godly way to live.  Rest.  God was making them human.  It was the beginning of God moving them from seeing themselves as slaves to seeing themselves as a chosen, loved people with value.  They no longer needed to feel the stress of putting their trust in themselves, in what they can produce, but in God.  God was sending them a message: if you rest, I will care for you.  In Sabbath rest, you will get your value and self-worth from Me.

Let’s read about it.

Deuteronomy 8:2 Do you remember how the Lord led you through the wilderness for all those forty years, humbling you and testing you to find out how you would respond, and whether or not you would really obey him? 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to both you and your ancestors. He did it to help you realize that food isn’t everything, and that real life comes by obeying every command of God. TLB

Do you see it?  God was teaching them that food, the practical things of life, aren’t everything.  Real life is found in your relationship with God.  God was in the process of teaching them to trust and obey Him.   Real life, freedom, value, and self-worth come from obeying God, not in getting everything you want all the time.  Real life is found in your spiritual life, not your practical life.  Now remember, Sabbath rest was unheard of.  And of course, because this was a radical commandment, they struggled to live it out.  Here is why.  They didn’t understand how much God loved them.  They didn’t see their value.  They struggled to trust that God would take care of them.  Instead, they believed that they needed to trust themselves and work for seven days to survive and get ahead.  

Let’s just stop here and let this sink in.  God proved His love for them.  God confronted and crushed Pharaoh.  God frees them from slavery through the ten plagues.  They experienced God splitting the sea so they could walk on dry ground.  Thirty days later, God tells them, “Hey, I love you so much, you have so much value, I want all of you to rest.  If you do this, I will care for you.”  Their response to God?  “Not sure that you will come through for us, so we won’t rest.”  It’s almost like, after all that God did for them, they wanted to go back to what they knew for 400 years, slavery.  Even though slavery was oppressive, endless, daily work, even though it meant they had no value, and were disposable, it was what they were comfortable with.  It was hard to trust God.  

Think about that, who would live like that?  After experiencing God’s love and salvation, who would push His commands away because they aren’t sure if He will come through for them?  If we were honest, the answer is us.  Do you trust that God will provide and care for you if you rest?  Do you believe real life is found in your spiritual life when you trust and obey God?  Do you get your value and self-worth from God?  Do you believe that your practical life, things like work success, what you accomplish, what people say about you, is where you find the real life you are looking for?

I want to share a verse that may change your life.  

Psalm 127:2 It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late. For the Lord provides for those he loves, while they are asleep. GNT

Let that sink in for a second.  The Lord provides for those he loves, while they are asleep.  Do you believe that?  Imagine if we believed that when we sleep, God begins to provide for us.  If we believed that, it would rock our world, wouldn’t it?  It would change how we view rest.  It would probably change our stress level.  We might even be able to break out of thinking, ‘Not sure God will come through for me, I have to make it all happen.’  

When Jesus walked with us, do you remember what He asked?

Matthew 11:28-30 Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. MSG

Learning the unforced rhythms of grace means, when we learn to rest in God’s grace, then God moves.  I know God loves me.  I see my value.  My self-worth comes from my relationship with God.  I’m not a slave to endless and oppressive activity and the stress of trying to keep it together.  I live in freedom so I can finally trust God and rest.  

I want to share this quote.  

“The heart of original sin is the refusal to accept God’s rhythm for us.  The essence of being in God’s image is our ability, like God, to stop.  We imitate God by stopping our work and resting.” Robert Barron

So why do we struggle to rest?  Why do we accept a life of constant busyness and stress?  Why do we bear the weight of life?  Is it possible that we are like the Children of Israel?  We have experienced God saving us.  We know what God has done for us.  We know the commands of God to rest in Him and build a relationship with him.  We know that God is trying to have us find our value and self-worth in Him.  But we aren’t sure, are we?  So, we push His command of rest away because we don’t know if He will come through for us.  And truth be told, it may not have been modeled for us.  Is it possible that we still don’t understand or believe how much God loves us?  Is it possible that we don’t see our value?  Is it possible that we don’t trust that God will take care of us?  Is it possible that we believe it’s up to us to make it happen, so I must work all the time to survive and get ahead?  And ultimately, in the way we live, it is possible we don’t enjoy God’s freedom.  It’s like we are going back to what we know.  We are going back into slavery, oppressive, endless, daily activity.  We go back to basing our value and self-worth in what we create, what we produce, our success, what others say about us, and what we have, not on our relationship with God.  And our stress grows.

Scripture explains that God’s promise of rest is for us today, like it was for the Children of Israel.

Hebrews 4:4 God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. 2 For this good news - that God has prepared this rest - has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. 3 For only we who believe can enter his rest. 

Do you see what scripture said?  We ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. 

Let's jump to verse 9.

Hebrews 4:9 There is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. 10 For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. 11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. NLT

For us today, Sabbath isn’t a legalistic requirement that we must live out on a Saturday.

Paul wrote, Colossians 2:16 Let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or …the Sabbath. GNT

Check out that Jesus taught in Mark 2:27 Jesus said to them, The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. NLT

We don’t live out the old rules of a legalistic religion to earn our way into heaven, but rest, is clearly for us today.  And in rest, we enter the rhythms of grace that God has for us.

Before I get a little more detailed, I want to ask you to process more questions.  Now that you know the context, what do you think of rest?   Do you see it as a profoundly spiritual issue that has enormous practical ramifications in our stress?  Is it something that makes you tremble with fear that you might fail to experience it?  Do you see how rest gives you value and makes you more human?  Do you see that a lack of rest, endless and oppressive activity, steals your freedom, making you a slave to what you create, what you produce, your success, what others say, and what you have?  Do you believe you can get more done in seven days than you could with God in six days?

Before I close, I must share what this talk does not mean.  Four things this does not mean.

MRC said I must rest, so I can’t be a high-performance person.  Absolutely not true.

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. NLT

You absolutely can be a high-performance person.  The secret is priorities.  Starting a business, being in a high-performance job, starting a family with babies and diapers, having kids in pay-to-play sports – getting licenses – proms – jobs – etc., caring for aging parents, all of it is intense.  So, we prioritize.  We prioritize God, spouse, and family.  Our priorities tell life how we will live.  We do not allow life, to the best of our ability, to tell us how we will live.  Make sense?   

MRC said I must rest, so that means I can be lazy, and God will take care of it.  Absolutely not true.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 We gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” NLT

The whole point of rest is assuming we are working and need rest.  If you aren’t working because you are lazy, you don’t need rest.  We are expected to work and work hard.  We brush our teeth, we pay our bills, and we get the kids to the right sports fields.  If we are in debt, we work hard to pay off that debt.  We fully engage life.  Rest is for one day; it’s not about being lazy on the other six days.

MRC said I must rest, so if I am tired, I don’t need to push through challenges.  Absolutely not true.

Romans 5:3 We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. NIV

We fully engage life, and that means we face and overcome challenges.  We don’t retreat from challenges because of our temporary emotions because we know that as we face and overcome challenges, it produces the things we want to see in our lives.  Things like perseverance, character, and hope.  To not engage, to not face and overcome, produces things like fear and timidity in our lives.  To grow up into healthy, mature adults, we learn to face, walk through, and overcome adversity.

And obviously, if you are facing more serious long-term issues, you reach out for help.

MRC said I must rest, so I can’t make church on Sunday cause I’m tired.  Absolutely not true.

1 Corinthians 12:5  God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! MSG

It’s true that there are times when you need to tap out on doing things.  It is also true that you have been anointed by God to share your specific gift to encourage others in your spiritual family.  That means we prioritize the things of God and God’s kingdom, like the church.  

The problem in North American Christianity, it is too easy to become consumers, not workers.  What is the difference?  When the church is about us, we become consumers.  That means we do the least.  We are comfortable picking at and complaining about what we like and don’t like.  We make no effort to connect with others and wonder why we don’t feel connected to others.   We only attend when it’s convenient.   Why does this happen?  Because we have become consumers, the church has become about us.

When church is about God anointing you to share your gift with others in His spiritual family, you become a worker for Him.  You serve.   You solve problems.  You invest your time, money, and energy.  You engage regardless of whether it’s convenient or not.   Why?  Because we grow up and realize, it isn’t about us.  It’s bigger than us.  It’s about what God wants to do through us to encourage others.

Let’s wrap this up today with this verse and some questions.  

Psalm 127:2 It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late. For the Lord provides for those he loves, while they are asleep. GNT

Do you believe that when you rest, God moves on your behalf?  Do you base your value and self-worth in God as you rest?  Or do you base your value and self-worth on what you create, what you produce, your success, what others say about you, or what you have?  Do you see a connection between resting and becoming more human?  And do you see the connection between never resting and feeling like you have no value?  Last question, what decision do you need to make about rest?