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“Stress Busters: God's Antidote to Busyness”
Psalm 23:2
IPC, March 1, 2009

This morning’s message may not strike a chord with everyone who is present. Have you seen the statement: "Work fascinates me. I can sit and stare at it for hours."? I’ve seen folks, that if they were any more laid back, they would be in a coma. I had someone describe their son to me by saying, "Bill, he’s so lazy that he would pay somebody to breathe for him." There are two general personality types when it comes to being busy—some folks have an easy pace when approaching work—they never seem to get into a hurry and they plod through their day without getting their feathers ruffled. Others bound out of bed and these folks are immediately on a mission. There is a "To Do" list to conquer.

Driven folks operate off of appointments, activities and assignments…
Demands, decisions and deadlines…
Schedules, services and seminars…
Plans, programs and people… and it’s hard to stop!

We’re continuing in Psalm 23 today. I want us to look for the antidotes for the seven most common causes of stress. Today, we’re going to look at busyness. Let’s see what God has to say for people under pressure. Ps. 23:2 "He makes me lie down in green pastures."

First, let’s take a quiz to see if you’re a workaholic:

• Are you always in a hurry?

• Is your "To Do" list unrealistically long?

• Do you use "days off" to catch up with unfinished work?

• Has more than one person told you to slow down?

• Do you feel guilty when you relax?

• Do you have to get sick to take time off?

"You know you’re a workaholic when…"

• All your Christmas cards come from business associates.

• You head out for "Back to School" night and you don’t know which school that your kid attends.

• Your family refers to you as "Occupant"

• You unwind after work by watching "Conan O’Brien"

• If you take business-related reading material into the bathroom.

Is that the kind of life that God wants us to live? Ps. 127:2 "It is in vain that you rise up early & go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep." You’ve heard the statement: If you burn the candle at both ends, you’re not as bright as you think you are. Sometimes the best thing we can do is go home and go to bed.

Some believers believe that giving our lives to Christ means that He is going to "pile on" more and more on us than we already have to do. Ps. 23:2 "He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters." If you were a sheep you would understand this and it would be Paradise. God is referring to rest and refreshment. God wants us to live whole, balanced, complete lives. He doesn’t want us to be working all the time. A CNN poll relates that 59% of Americans would like to slow down and relax more. A Harris Poll indicates that we have 8.5 less hours per week of leisure time than we did a decade ago. We are working more and enjoying it less.

Which of the following five statements describe you best? Are you faster than a speeding bullet? How about, as fast as a speeding bullet? (If you answered yes to either of those, you’re probably a workaholic.) Next statement: You’re not quite as fast a speeding bullet. Would you believe a slow bullet? Or do you wound yourself with a bullet when attempting to fire? You know the old Rolaids commercial: How do you spell relief? R-O-L-A-I-D-S! The antidote for busyness today is the acrostic for the word R.E.L.A.X. We’ll use each letter for one of the components of the prescription.

REALIZE MY WORTH

A primary reason many of us overwork is because we confuse our work with our worth. We think if we work and achieve a lot, then we’re worth a lot. We confuse what we do with WHO we are. In America, we get our primary identity from what we do. When we meet someone, after we find out their name, the second question is: "What do you do?"

The Bible doesn’t teach that. Some of you grew up with a little phrase in your mind that says, "You’re a nobody." Maybe a teacher told you that. Or a former friend. Maybe your in-laws said that when you asked your spouse to marry you. Maybe a sibling or parent said, "You’ll never amount to much." So, we overwork and in a sense say, "I’ll show you. I will prove my worth by my accomplishments and achievements." Labels hurt, don’t they? So, we keep on paddling and keep on working, because somebody may catch up and get ahead of us. We’ve got to keep proving our significance and worth by overworking. And it’s hard to find a brake on a car like that one.

James 1:18 (NIV) "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created." You matter more to God than the rest of His creation. If you were made by God, you’re worth it. If God likes me, and I like me, and if you don’t like me, that’s your problem. When you spend your life trying to win the approval of other people, you are on a treadmill that never seems to stop. Realize how valuable you are to God.

In Matthew 6:26, Jesus says, "Your heavenly Father feeds the birds and you are far more valuable than they are." If God notices when a bird falls to the ground and takes cares of birds, don’t you think He takes cares of you?

God’s love is not based on our performance. It is based on His grace. You don’t have to prove anything to God. Is. 49:16 the Lord is saying, "Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." Jesus died on the cross and they put nails through His hands. He said, "I loved you this much. I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." And when you get to heaven, He’s going to show you those hands.

ENJOY WHAT I ALREADY HAVE.

Ecc. 3:13 "Everyone should eat & drink & take pleasure in all of his toil—this is God’s gift to man." Can you get preoccupied in getting more that you don’t enjoy what you already have? We have beautiful homes, but nobody enjoys them, because nobody is ever home.

We get into the syndrome called the "Desire to Acquire." Of course, recently we know that it is not wise to try to keep up with the Joneses anymore, since their portfolio took a nose-dive. Ecc. 4:6 "Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil & a striving after wind." The Good News paraphrase says, "It is better to have only a little, with peace of mind, than be busy all the time…" Folks, the greatest things in life are NOT things. As a pastor, I’ve been around death beds a lot. I have never heard a person say, in their final breath, "I wish I had spent more time at the office." I’ve heard folks say, "I wish I had spent more time with my family, or building relationships or serving God." In our culture, it is considered a tragedy to "die penniless." But, think about it. What better time to go…when you write your last check and you’re totally empty—you die. Now that is timing. We should enjoy what we already have.

LIMIT MY LABOR

(OK, Rachel, this is the time during the message when you can take a nap, so you won’t remind me of this point later.) We must make conscious decisions to make time for other things besides work. I have a Daytimer…I’m too dumb and unimportant to have a Blackberry so I use paper. I map out my day…I exercise early each morning. (Being adopted, I don’t have a family health history to draw from, so I’m doing my best to stay healthy.) I schedule time for myself and with God alone. I try to keep Fridays sacred as a "day off." Rachel and I go to dinner, wherever she has a coupon. Now granted, I don’t punch a clock so I have flexibility of schedule advantages that many of you don’t have. But, limiting your labor is important if you are self-employed. Self-employed people have a tendency to never stop working. Entrepreneurs can fall prey to this. "If you put too many irons in the fire, you could put the fire out." Ecc. 10:15 "The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city." Again, the Good News paraphrase says, "Only someone too stupid to find his way home would wear himself out with work." In other words, if I work all the time, I’m dumb. I read, "Men will spend their health getting wealth; then they will gladly pay that they have earned to get their health back."

A lady called her pastor one day very upset. "I called all day Monday and couldn’t get through to you." The pastor said, "Monday is my day off." The lady retorted, "Well, the devil never takes a day off." The pastor agreed and said, "Yes, and if I didn’t take a day off, I’d be just like the devil." Ex. 20:9-10 "Six days you shall labor, & do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God." Rest is in God’s Top Ten List. It’s the Fourth Commandment. It is so important that God put it up there with don’t commit adultery and don’t murder. Sabbath means "a day of rest." In Mark 2, Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made to benefit man…"

What should we do on the "Sabbath?"

• Rest our bodies. If you don’t take time to rest your body, your body will make time to rest itself—either in the hospital or with a cold or flu. During the French Revolution they outlawed Sunday as a day of rest. Within a few years they had to reinstate it. Not for religious reasons, but because the health of the nation had collapsed.

• Recharge your emotions. What recharges you? It could be quietness or recreation. It could be relationships. We need time to recharge emotionally.

• Refocus your spirit. The Bible calls this worship. Worship brings things into perspective, doesn’t it? And a right perspective gives you more energy to deal with day-to-day problems. If you’re too busy for God, you’re too busy.

I read that much of our activity these days is nothing more than a cheap anesthetic to deaden the pain of an empty life! To keep that from happening, we need the next point…

ADJUST MY VALUES.

If we want to reduce "busyness" in our lives, we need to decide what is really important. Ecc. 4:4 "Then I saw that all toil & all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor." We work hard to succeed because we envy what other folks have. That is the rat race many of us enter—always getting more. There are some things more important than getting more.

Mark 8:36 "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world & forfeit his life?" Let this verse evaluate all the areas of your life today. We may be getting affirmation at work, but are our kids getting parenting? No matter how much you make, you could lose it all anyway. Bottom line: What is important?

EXCHANGE MY PRESSURE FOR GOD’S PEACE.

There are three kinds of fatigue:

• Physical fatigue—tired muscles. That can be replenished pretty quickly.

• Emotional fatigue—that is when we’re "wrung out" over things that drain us emotionally.

• Spiritual fatigue—a dry spirit. That is the deepest.

You may need a vacation to handle the physical fatigue. You need more than just time off to recharge your emotions and to focus your spirit. You need a vital relationship with God. I love to take a vacation but you know what, I come back to the same problems and challenges. A vacation won’t necessarily do the trick. I have to day-by-day adjust my values and exchange my pressure for God’s peace.

Little children don’t usually like to lie down for naps. Resistance is a mark of immaturity. Sheep don’t like to rest or to lie down. Psalm 23:2 "He makes me lie down…" Has God ever made you lie down? If you don’t slow down, sometimes God will just make you lie down. You need a relationship with Christ, who will help you set the pace of your life.

I received this loose paraphrase of Psalm 23 probably twenty years ago: The Lord is my pacesetter, I shall not rush. He makes me stop and rest at intervals. He provides me with images of stillness to restore my serenity. He leads me in the way of efficiency to calmness of mind and this guidance is peace. Even though I have a great many things to accomplish this day, I will not fret, for His presence is here. His timeliness, His all importance, will keep me in balance. He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity, anointing my head with the oils of tranquility. My cup of joyous energy overflows. Surely harmony & effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours, for I shall walk in the pace of my Lord & dwell in His heaven forever."

We all need a pacesetter to set the pace of our lives, so we don’t go too slow or too fast. The only Person wise enough to do that is the One who knows us inside and out—that is Jesus Christ. When you live for the Lord, it’s not only the right and healthy way to live, but it is the most balanced and relaxing way to live.

Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor & are heavy laden & I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, & learn from me, for I am gentle & lowly in heart, & you will find rest for your souls." (Matt. 11:28-29) Are you stressed out, tired and weary? Jesus says, "Come to Me. I’m not going to load more on you." When we recover our lives through Jesus Christ, we actually uncover life as God has intended it for us. Let’s pray.

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In Christ,
Kevin Eutsey - Associate Pastor