Last week, we jumped into a bit of a series within our series. We started looking into an important question from Jesus, a question so big with so many different answers and challenges found in it that there was just no way to contain it in one talk. This question from Jesus is one that we need to wrestle with in our time on this Earth. It leads us to the source of so many of the challenges we walk through in life because it leads us into a conversation about the soul and how important the soul is. That is something that I have been stuck on lately as I work with people and think through and listen to the struggles, we all face in life and the inner turmoil and restlessness we have as a people. That is why we are spending our next few Sundays together, working our way through just a few of the challenges we face in this question from Jesus. This may be the most important question to answer in life. While it may be the most important, it may also be the hardest to see and process with a world that pushes against it in every way. This is the question we are personalizing…
Mark 8:36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? NLT
Is there anything more valuable than your soul? The answer is no. There is nothing more valuable than our soul. The problem is that we live in a world that is doing everything possible to get you to answer yes to that question. As a culture and a people, we have lost sight of the most important thing to remember: that we are spiritual beings with a soul and that nothing is more valuable than our souls. This is not an accident. Our lives are tremendously opposed, and life, culture, people, everything seems set against us, seeing clearly and understanding how important our souls are. Have you noticed how hard it is to focus on eternity and spiritual things? Have you noticed how easy it is to focus on things of this world, things of today that have no eternal value but could lead to some immediate gratification, satisfaction, fun, or success? Have you noticed the passion, energy, and resources we humans are willing to put into things of today and how little of that we put into the things of God? It’s interesting but not ironic or accidental; we are spiritual beings with a soul, and everything in this world and your enemy is set against you. The goal is to keep you from ever seeing God and eternal things clearly and to keep you from understanding your true value and the importance of your soul. Today, we will talk about why Scripture says we struggle to see clearly, but for now, let’s talk a bit about people and our world today, then think about where we were last week, which will lead us deeper into the conversation on rest.
We live in a world full of people who are struggling right now. People who are struggling emotionally, mentally, and relationally. People who are busy, stressed, and exhausted. People who struggle to connect and relate to each other more than ever in a time when we seem to have more ways to stay connected than ever before. We are seeing people walking in major inner turmoil and loneliness and struggling tremendously on the inside, even if they project everything to be okay on the outside. We are seeing people fall into depression and anxiety, with mental health cases rising by the day. We are seeing people struggle to work through the realities of life, like adversity and challenges. We are seeing people struggle to walk in personal relationships with others, and we know part of God’s design is that we humans do life with other people. People are struggling right now. There is a growing restlessness inside us. What is interesting to me is that while we struggle more and more in our inner worlds, we are also seeing a growing awareness of mental health and self-care. It’s like we know there is a problem! We know something isn’t right, and we are looking for ways to fix it! We see more and more talk of mental health and self-care, which is a positive thing. But, while we have this general heightened awareness of mental and emotional health issues…of our inner world issues, and we see and acknowledge that we have a problem as a people and that we need to take care of our inner worlds, it is getting worse, not better. We are living in the days of a mental health crisis that is only growing. I recently read that the fastest-growing disease in the Western World is stress. There is a restlessness of our inner worlds that keeps growing. We keep trying to find a way to calm it, but it’s only getting worse. We are aware there is an issue. We are more aware than ever before of how important our inner worlds are and that we must care for them, but nothing we do seems to fix the problem. The turmoil and restlessness keep growing. This leads us to a very important question. One that we must be asked. Are we missing something? The answer is YES! We are missing something, which is that we are profoundly spiritual beings. We have a soul, and it must be cared for. Remember this quote from last week? It is so important that we understand this.
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” St. Augustine
We know there is a problem, but our problems go deeper than a practical fix or remedy. We are spiritual beings with a soul, and many of our problems are profoundly spiritual. There is no irony in the fact that we are struggling internally more today than ever before, in a time when, as a people in this world, we are choosing to distance ourselves from God. We pull away from God. We ignore the fact that we are spiritual beings with a soul. It’s not ironic that we struggle and become more restless as we distance ourselves from God, which is exactly what our world and culture are doing these days. We must care for our souls. Our soul is the source of our lives, and if we ignore it, it can also become the source of our pain. We have this inner restlessness that St. Augustine describes; we feel it and want that rest from that restlessness…the problem is we will never find it until we understand that we are spiritual beings with a soul. The solution is spiritual; the problem is that it is the last place we seem willing to look or engage in. Our inner worlds stay restless until we find rest in Our Heavenly Father. For so many hurting people, restless people, they are searching for answers everywhere but where they will find them, and until they see and accept that…well, that inner struggle continues, which is so tough.
Last week, we started to look at four ways we may gain the world but lose our souls. This is not a complete list, but these are four of the biggest and most challenging issues we face. So, let’s review the list and talk for a bit.
Four Ways We May Gain The World But Lose Our Souls:
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- Disconnection From Your Heavenly Father
- Pursuing Our Desires over God’s Desires
- Never Rest, Never Stop, Never Slow Down (last week & this week)
- People – Isolate, Us vs Them Mindset, Peer Pressure, & Hurts(Labor Day)
This list is small but covers a lot of ground. I told you last week how important the first two are, and they are a big enough deal that we need to spend some time on them whenever we talk about the soul. But our main focus last week and this week is the third one. We will continue the conversation on rest today, and the next time I am with you, we will focus on people. That will allow us to look at the importance of community and relationships and how we deal with and respond to peer pressure, hurts, and challenges of life with people. But we can’t start a conversation about the importance of our soul without talking about these first two.
The first way we may gain the world but lose our soul is by disconnecting from God.
We are spiritual beings with a soul created by God for God, and the quickest way to lose your soul is to separate yourself from Your Heavenly Father. Jesus says this in John 15…
John 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” NLT
Nothing is more important than your soul. Your walk with God is the source of life for your soul, and without it, your soul dries up. You may look successful and good on the outside, but you know and can feel the price you are paying on the inside. We must stay connected to Him, or we must pay the price from the inside out.
The second way we may gain the world but lose our soul is by pursuing our desires over God’s desires.
We need to understand something about our soul. It has needs, cravings, and deep desires that God wired into us to attract us to Him. We are spiritual beings, and our souls crave and desire God.
Psalm 84:2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. NIV
The problem is the soul’s cravings aren’t the only cravings we have. We also have human desires and fleshly cravings, and the two conflict, pulling us in opposite directions. Our souls crave and desire God. The challenge is that we can confuse or replace our soul’s craving with those fleshly desires. We may not even realize we are doing this at times. Yes, we can be selfish and want to live for ourselves, but so often, it’s an inability to identify what we truly need and understand that there is a difference between our fleshly desires and our deep need for fulfillment that can only come from God. This is why we pour into our relationship with God; our fulfillment is only found in Him. If we are disconnecting from God and living for our fleshly desires while ignoring our deep need for God, that soul craving, we may look ok on the outside, but we are restless and struggling on the inside…and Jesus would ask the question…
Mark 8:36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? NLT
Today, we continue the conversation we started last week on the third way we may gain the world and lose our souls.
Never rest, never stop doing, and never slow down. Refuse to Rest.
This is a very popular issue in our world today. So often, we struggle because of the pace of our lives and ignore God’s command and design for our lives to rest. There were some important principles and things that we needed to look at last week that led us to our talk today.
First, there is a difference between rest and real rest.
That is an important distinction we need to make as people.
Matthew 11:28 “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.” MSG
This is the first thing we must understand. There is a difference between rest and this real rest Jesus speaks of. So, how we define rest and where we go for it is very important. Jesus is very clear: this real rest won’t be found on your next dream vacation, in a hobby you enjoy, or in a substance or bottle…this real rest is found in Him. We must understand the difference between rest and real rest. Then we dove into an important study I found on rest that discusses the difference between “good tired” and “dangerously tired.” By Ruth Haley Barton.
Good Tired vs Dangerously Tired
Good Tired – is when we put in a good day’s work, go home to relax and recover, and then return rested and ready for the new day. This is inside of God’s design; we work and rest.
Dangerously Tired – is when we push too hard for too long. Dangerously tired is when we never seem to recover.
We looked at the symptoms of being dangerously tired, and I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to say we can see many of those symptoms in our lives today. You know it’s wild, but for some reason, we have made it normal or a badge of honor to be empty and dangerously tired. But this isn’t what God desires for us. Not only was that not what God desired or designed for us, but think about that mindset that somehow, it’s normal to live a dangerously tired life, and it looks lazy or crazy for someone to be healthy, refreshed, and peaceful. So, if you are reading this today and living a hurried, rushed, dangerously tired life, you know what the answer is…it’s that real rest, the kind that restores your soul. You won’t find that in a bottle; it’s not found in binge-watching Netflix or even on your next dream vacation. You know where real rest is found. You know where you need to spend your time. And you know who you should be spending your time with. The question then becomes, why aren’t you doing it? Why can’t you stop doing, stop moving, stop producing? Why can’t you stop doing what people and this world want and do what you know will restore your soul? Well, that is what we are talking about today.
The most important part of experiencing real rest, the kind that restores your soul, is to STOP.
This sounds like a simple statement. Just stop! Yes, we get it. We can’t rest if we don’t stop working. But, if you think about it, it’s a simple statement, but it is not all that easy to do. Because the moment I tell you how important it is to stop, you can immediately think through all the reasons that cannot and will not happen. Stopping from work is essential for our souls to experience this real rest. If we don’t stop, it will never happen. It is a simple thought but so challenging, and we need to understand why the idea of stopping is so challenging and may seem impossible to us on a personal level. Why do we struggle to slow down and stop moving, producing, and working? It is important for us to see and continue to build into a theme we often see in Scripture. That theme comes down to two things…who we live for and our ability or inability to trust God. This comes up a lot in Scripture, and you know what I tell you about Scripture repeating itself…it’s very important. For so many of us, we struggle to experience real rest because we refuse to STOP working, producing, and moving; we can’t STOP. We can get a lot done and may look important to people. We may be gaining the world, but we are losing our souls.
One of the most important things you can do as you engage this real rest for your soul is STOP. Yet most of us can’t stop until everything we are doing is finished. Well, that is a problem because life and work are never finished, are they? We feel like we must complete our projects, answer our e-mails, return all phone messages, pay our bills, finish cleaning the house, and fix what needs to be fixed, and then maybe we could stop for a bit. There’s always more to do, one more goal to be reached, and one more thing to do before we can stop…isn’t there? This is important to see; the reality of our lives is that there is always something to do and always a reason why we can’t or won’t make the choice to stop. But God designed, desires, and commands us to STOP, slow down, breathe, and engage Him to find this real rest to restore our souls. Once we stop, we remember something very important. We have limits, and we can embrace them. We have a soul that needs to be refreshed and restored. As we stop, we embrace our limits, replenish, and come to a very important and freeing understanding…that God is God. He has it all in His hands, and it is not in our hands. There is a joyful peace in this clarity.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God” NIV
Have you ever been so busy, restless, and tired and had someone who cares about you come up and tell you that you need to stop working, stop doing, and rest? How do you receive that in those stressed-out moments? Typically, not all that well. The list of things you must do floods your mind, and you don’t see any way to stop. Stopping seems and feels impossible! If you don’t do it, who will? You can’t stop, can you? Well, if you are wondering if you are dangerously tired, this is a good way to see it. When you start believing that you can’t stop, it’s a sign that you are dangerously tired. You can’t stop; how would the world keep spinning if you did? When we stop, we are reminded of whose world it is! It’s God’s world, and we are just living in it. It’s His world, and He keeps it all going; that is His job, not ours. When we stop, we discover that the world will continue to spin even if we stop working! The world continues working without me! That is a freeing discovery!
“We are human beings, not human doings.” Rick Warren
But let’s be real; we know this stuff. Christian or not, we know we need rest. As Christians, we know that God commanded us to rest and designed us to stop working and experience this real rest. We know it but struggle to do it. Why is that? This is an important question to ask ourselves. If we can understand the WHY behind our struggle or inability to stop working and know that God is God, then we can do something about it! There is a reason we can’t stop, slow down, and rest. There is a reason we compete with others to see who is the most tired, busy, and exhausted. There is a reason we never stop. And it comes down to that theme we find all through Scripture that I spoke of earlier…trust and who we are living for.
Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! NLT
It’s so important that we engage in this real rest that we stop and can be still and know that God is God…but the challenge revolves around trust. Can I trust God to take care of me and all my concerns if I stop and allow Him to do so? Did you see who God keeps in perfect peace? It’s those who trust in Him. The Bible speaks a lot about peace. In Galatians, we are told what a life filled with The Holy Spirit produces; the Fruit of the Spirit and peace is part of the product of a life lived with God in Us.
Galatians 5:22-22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. NIV
We have been pointing to this restlessness that we struggle with—a restlessness that only calms when we rest in God. God says that those who trust God can experience this perfect peace. In Galatians, we see that those who have allowed God into their lives and are living a Spirit-filled life will have peace. Now, let me ask you a question. Are there times in your life when it’s easy to trust God and times when trusting God is very difficult? Let’s face it: so often, the circumstances around us have much to do with our ability to trust God and find peace, but this peace from God is different. This is something we need to highlight here…this peace isn’t something that comes because of the circumstances of our lives. It doesn’t rise or fall that way. This peace is a result of our faith. It’s about our trust in God. It’s a peace that comes from God in us, from within…which means no external circumstance can influence it…or take it away! Paul writes about this peace that is beyond our human understanding, and if you remember, Paul is experiencing this peace while living in the most horrible circumstances possible. He is in prison, waiting to die.
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. NIV
Paul says we can have this peace by rejoicing, letting go of all we stress and worry about, and trusting in God…even when we can’t see His goodness, even when life is hitting and hitting hard! Peace is the result of living a life of trusting God. Rejoicing, trusting, praying, and being thankful. Peace comes in ways that make no sense to humans because we humans see and feel our circumstances and live stressed-out, exhausted, anxious lives because of those external variables. Peace doesn’t come from our circumstances but from trusting God, regardless of what we walk through! This is so important, this peace of God is internal and has nothing to do with the external circumstances of our lives, which are often very challenging…this is why this peace is beyond human understanding! Now, if you think about it, this is also why nothing of this world can take it from us…because God’s peace comes from within.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all. NLT
This is so important, and it continues to build this theme of trusting God. If you struggle to stop and engage in real rest, it’s time to be honest: do you trust God? Whose world is it, yours or His? This is so important…I want you to be very honest with yourself here. The “to-do” lists of our lives will always be there. Can you stop, leave the work for another time, trust God to lead and do for you, and experience this perfect peace, engaging in the real rest your soul needs to experience your best life? The challenge behind stopping comes down to trust.
Have you ever heard someone say they are so busy they can’t think or see straight? Scripture often describes our struggle to see clearly, and Jesus explains why.
Matthew 6:22 “Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. 23 If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!” MSG
Jesus points out two ways that block us from seeing clearly. Did you pick up on that? Greed and Distrust are big blockers that keep us from seeing clearly. When we live for ourselves and struggle to trust God, we will struggle to see clearly. This theme of trust and who you live for builds all through Scripture. What blocks us from seeing clearly? Greed (living for ourselves) and an inability to trust God. Now, let’s think through the concept of real rest for our souls and the challenge we face in stopping and engaging in this real rest. Why do we get so busy, move so quickly, and live such frantic and tiring lives that we can’t see straight? Why can’t we stop moving, producing, or working and simply rest? It comes back to this theme. It is our inability to trust God and live out His desires over our own. We are so tired and busy that we struggle to see straight. We live tired and busy lives because we struggle to trust God, and we live for ourselves, doing what we want…when we want…how we want. We can’t see a clear way through life, and all it throws at us except our way. We are unwilling or struggle to see what God is up to in our lives. This is important for us to understand. There is a reason that we struggle to stop moving, doing, producing, and just be still and know that God is God…and it’s all about our inability to trust and live for Him. Do you see it? When you hear that verse we read earlier in Psalms, can it cause an internal argument in your soul?
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God” NIV
Do you hear that and immediately argue in your mind why that can’t happen? Do you hear that you should stop and immediately start building a list of things that keep you from doing that? You hear that and think, how could I ever stop doing, moving, and producing? Think about that. Think about the state of your heart and mind. If you are struggling to clearly see a way through all you have to do, unable to clearly see a way to stop moving, or if you are moving at a speed that makes you dangerously tired, it’s time to ask the real question. Why can’t you stop? Why do you believe that it’s all on you and up to you? If this is God’s world, and you are just in it, why can’t you give Him the time, focus, and love your creator deserves? Why can’t you trust Him to keep the world spinning while you take the time to engage in real rest, the kind that can restore your soul? Do you see it? It’s all about your ability or inability to trust Him and live for Him…or not. A great way to know how you are doing with this concept of trusting God and living for Him or not is to look at your willingness or unwillingness to stop and allow God to be God in your life, to stop when it may not make sense and to trust that He keeps the world spinning and you do not. To trust and live for Him even when life hurts and isn’t going the way you want.
So, as we conclude a two-week discussion on experiencing real rest for our souls, I want you to consider where we have been. It’s so important, and we have covered a lot of ground.
Do you understand the difference between rest and real rest? Do you understand where real rest is found? Are you experiencing this real rest that can lead to your best life possible?
Do you see the difference between good tired and dangerously tired? There is a God-designed relationship between work and rest, a rhythm that we are to live in…if you are dangerously tired, it’s a great indicator that you, a child of God, are living outside God’s design.
Can you stop, be still, and know that God is God? Do you struggle to let go of all you want or feel you need to do and engage in life as God desires? Do you trust that if you stop, everything will be okay?
Do you walk in the peace of God regardless of the circumstances around you? Does your peace come from within?
Do you understand that your life is found in God? You are a spiritual being with a soul…and nothing is more valuable than your soul. You were created by God to be with God, and in experiencing real rest and truly engaging God, we find our real lives. We find peace from this internal restlessness when we rest in God. When we stop, we are reminded of something important. It’s all His, and the world will spin on without us. When this peace of God fills us, it can’t be taken away…regardless of how hard and confusing life may be on the outside.
So, let’s get into our exercise. When you think about your life…in what ways may you be gaining the world yet losing your soul? Your soul can be the source of your life; if it is ignored or uncared for, it can be the source of your pain. While this world never wants you to see that truth clearly, it is the key to finding your best life! We must stay connected to God and live for His desires, not our own. We must engage in the kind of real rest that restores our souls. Otherwise, we may look good to the people of this planet. We may get a lot done, feeling and looking very important or successful by this world’s standards…but in the end, Jesus would ask the question.
Mark 8:36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? NLT
Is anything more important than your soul? The answer is no, but this world is doing everything in its power to get you to answer yes to this question from Jesus. I will see you Labor Day weekend when we will continue leaning into this question, focusing on the challenges we face with people.