Recently I preached a sermon at Forest Community Church in Virginia that was a repeat of a similar sermon from almost 10 years ago. I thought some of the ideas needed to be repeated, and I know that I needed to hear them. If you'd like a recording of the sermon, go here: Going Sane in a Crazy World. I hope this message blesses you! The notes for the sermon are below.
Going Sane in a Crazy World—Finding Rest When Things Fall Apart
Psalm 46, Matthew
11:28-30
The Tick and Arthur: “You aren’t going crazy chum, you’re
going sane in a crazy world!”
We live in a crazy world--Economic issues, Crazy political situations, Wars and rumors of wars, Personal Loss
Stress is everywhere! And it shows. It shows in our bodies
— in our relationships — including our relationship with God.
It's hard to find time for intimacy, because intimacy takes
time.
Time is a commodity you wish you could buy, and if you
could, you would use it simply to buy peace, quiet, leisure—to do some things
you long to do and not have to do them in such a rush. Just having time to
think and to have the right atmosphere for thinking would be nice, wouldn't it?
There will always be tension to life. But it needs to be a healthy, creative tension, not life-sapping stress. Marriages, families, and personal lives are falling apart as stressed-out people run away, withdraw, explode, crash, burn out—and eventually find themselves so very much alone. I believe a major cause for our stress is that we react rather than act. We're all moving so quickly that we don't stop and consider our future. What will it demand of us? What will it cost? Are we willing to pay the price?
We simply move. We react to the immediate. I know it's an
area where I really do battle. I want to do everything. I have so many ideas
and I love the excitement and challenge of a new venture — the potential — the
"project." So I react in the moment. I say "yes" when I should probably say "no"—
forgetting that my time is already allotted to other things. We react in the flesh instead of acting under the Holy Spirit's control. You
see, God knows our situations, he knows our issues and pressures. He
knows our conflicts. And He has made provision for each and every one of them.
And that provision is God himself in the person and presence of the Holy Spirit, indwelling us
and empowering us to respond rightly.
This liberating response is wrapped up in the gift of a person--Jesus our Messiah. We need his promised rest. This idea is found explicitly discussed in Psalm 46. Today I want to consider this Psalm with you in thinking through how we can go sane in a crazy world.
Going Sane in a Crazy World—Psalm 46: The Frame is God’s Presence (v. 1) and our
Position (v. 10): When God seems silent, be still and know his presence (Jesus
says, “Come to Me”); When the world turns against us, be still and know his
power (Jesus says, “Take my yoke, learn from me”); When things get hectic, be
still and know him (His yoke is easy and
his burden is light); Going Sane means to Rest (Matthew 11:28-30)
When God Seems
Silent: Be Still and Know His Presence (Be With Him)
Psalm 46:1-3: When
life goes crazy, where is sanity? Where
is rest? Where is God? In what way is
God a refuge when life is in tatters?
C. S. Lewis—A Grief Observed
“Where is God? When
you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that
you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember
yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be -- or so it
feels -- welcomed with open arms. But to
go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do
you find? A door slammed in your face,
and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the
silence will become. . . . What can this mean? Why is God so present a
commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in times of
trouble?”
God’s presence has not changed, yet we seem to be unable to access it. God seems distant, or at least a bit unconcerned. Our world is shattered, where is the glue to hold us together? Why are we experiencing the apparent Absence of God?
Be still and know his presence.
When God Seems
Silent
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus commands us to come to him. Who should come? All who are weary or heavy burdened; All who think that their lives are over; All who think God has turned his back on them; All who face the awful silence of others and even God.
His promise is to give rest. He doesn’t promise results. He doesn’t even promise a “word from God.”
He promises “rest.”
Rest is a relief from hardship, pain, distress, and turmoil. It is the presence of Messiah in our hard times.
Come to him and find rest.
Col. 1:15-17: Jesus
is the glue that holds reality together.
The Psalmist calls us to put our trust in God who holds all things together. The words “refuge” and “strength” speak of God’s security and power. Our security is not in the ground beneath our feet; God is our ultimate unshakeable reality and the greatest power of all. Just because I don’t see the sun that doesn’t mean it ceases to exist.
When life gets hard, we need to stand still, to desist, to
stop striving and to dwell on his presence. We need Jesus’ rest. God is
omnipresent, he has gone nowhere.
Be quiet and listen
Psalm 91:7
Be still and know his presence.
When the World Turns
Against Us: Be Still and Take His Yoke (Be His--He gives Power)
Psalm 46:4-7: God is
with his beloved Jerusalem
2 Corinthians 4:7-10—Jars of Clay
We are not exempt from hardships, difficulties, and bad
emotions, but we are more than survivors (Romans 8:31-39; especially v. 37). We
may be shaken, but we cannot be destroyed. The power by which we live and by
which Jerusalem is sustained is the power of God. When things go south, we must
learn NOT to rely on our abilities. Our power MUST come from a higher source.
God is There, and He is Able.
Be still and know his power.
In Matthew 11:29-30, Jesus gives two more commands: “Take my yoke” and “learn from me”. Jesus doesn’t think that rest is sitting still necessarily. This is a work in progress, it is still work. Yoke is what oxen wore. You often put an untrained ox with an older ox in order to help it learn. The yokes were specifically fit to the oxen. So it is with us, Jesus prepares us for the work he has in this world by fitting our yoke just to us, joining us in the yoke, and teaching us how to work—That is Rest!
Jesus’ humility and gentleness in teaching us gives us rest. As we learn to rely on the humble Messiah, we find rest.
Rest in his yoke, learn of his power.
When Things Get
Hectic: Be Still and Know Him (Position--Be Still)
Psalm 46:8-11
God's Word to us when we're on the ragged edge of
reality: Be Still, Desist, Cease striving,
Stop Struggling, Rest. Psalm 46:10 says to "Be still," which may mean
“rest.” It means to "let your arms down to your side"—to be
vulnerable to God. God also says to "know that I am God." He calls
for a cognitive and a personal response. We cease striving not because we know
how it's going to work out, but because we know the God who will work it out.
C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed (continued)
"I have gradually been coming to feel that the door is no
longer shut and bolted. Was it my own frantic need that slammed it in my face?
The time when nothing at all in your soul except a cry for help may be just the
time when God can’t give it; you are like the drowning man who can’t be helped
because he clutches and grabs. Perhaps your own reiterated cries deafen you to
the voice you hoped to hear."
Come to the Jesus, whose humility led him to die for you.
Wear his yoke, do only his work. Do not look around at what everyone else is
doing (This is Peter’s at the end of John). Keep his easy yoke and light burden
as your protection. Only do those things God has placed on the yoke you share
with Jesus.
Remember, he gives rest while he helps bear our load.
All kinds of things may be going wrong, but God remains
unmoved and unchanged. He is constant, he is there, he is not silent, he has
not moved. To know him is to know security even in the most hectic time. To
know him requires time and stillness. We must sit with him, spend time with
him, learn from him. We need lap time with our Father. We need to unravel, to
experience Selah. His presence is ours, our position is to be still with him.
Be still and know him.
Now What?
So, life is going crazy.
How do we go sane in a crazy world?
How can we find firmness when things seem unsound?
We must begin with a proper focus. Whatever consumes our
attention soon overwhelms our senses and colors our perspective. Instead of
being consumed by the problem, we should turn our face to the Lord
This week we must schedule time with God. We must stand
still on God’s firmness and stability. We must learn to quit striving, to cease
kicking, to be still and to be vulnerable to what God may be doing. We must
embrace God as our sole refuge, as our primary source of satisfaction.
This week find ways to create a space of peace in your
hectic schedule. Take time to sit still.
This week, when the bottom falls out, when God seems
silent, when the world turns against you, when things get hectic.
Be still, and know God’s power, presence, and person.
And you’ll find that he is a genuine refuge in time of
trouble.
