Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - When You’re Tired of Being Tired | He Promises | Part 6

Episode Date: May 5, 2024

Life is busy. And it’s hard to find rest when your to-do list doesn’t end. Jesus promises a way to rest in the middle of all the busyness. And it’s probably not what you’d expect. ABOUT THIS MESSAGEMaybe you’ve heard what Jesus has done for others. You want to believe He can do the same for you, but you're not sure it's even possible. Jesus made several promises in the Bible—but what do they mean today? Let’s find out in our new series, He Promises.NEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what’s next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://www.life.church/nextABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LCNowCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/craiggroeschelFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #craiggroeschel #hepromises Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I wonder how many of you often feel anxious or overwhelmed with all that you have to do. Would you raise your hands up right now? Anybody else like there, God bless you, you can all be saved. I see your hands everywhere. And we see it all the time, especially when we ask somebody, how are you doing? It used to be people would say, I'm doing good. But now, anytime you ask someone how they're doing, almost always, what would they say? They'll say, I'm busy.

I'm busy. I'm busy. How many of you are busy? Raise your hand. You can type in the comment section, I'm busy. You can even put three Zs if you're really busy. I'm B-U-Z-Z-Z-Z-Y. I'm busy. Everybody's busy.

And it's confusing sometimes because often the harder we work and the more we get done, it seems like the more that we have to do on the other side of our hard work. No matter how much we do, it seems like there's more to do. We run faster, and it feels like we're not progressing. It's a little bit like the time that I almost accidentally killed Amy. True story. We were at a hotel, we were working out, and I was throwing down some heavy weights, just in case she liked that.

And she was on the treadmill, and there were actually a couple other guys in there, and so I just kind of thought, I'll make sure they know that that one's with me. So I walked up, she's on a trail mill, I kind of walked on up there. and leaned up against the treadmill, had the little bar, she's walking, and I leaned up against her, and she's kind of walking, and when I leaned up,

I didn't realize that I leaned up against the little speed adjuster. And so I'm just leaning on it, making sure by nose I'm trying to talk to her, and she's kind of just walking. She starts walking faster, and I'm leaning up in there just proud, she's my wife,

and the next thing you know, her eyes get really, really big, and she's running, and she's looking at me, like, you're going to kill me. Thankfully, she grabbed the sides, and I realized I did that. I jumped back, and I apologize, but life feels like that sometimes. You're running, and you're running,

and you're running, and you're running, and you're running faster and faster. One day you feel like, I can't go any faster. I'm exhausted. I feel like I'm on the edge. I'm anxious about all that I have to do, and I'm really discouraged. And so what you think is, you think,

well, I'm tired. I'm just tired. And you may be. But many of you, I would suggest, are not just physically tired. Because if you're tired, you can take a break. You can take a nap. You can take a vacation. But you tried that, and you're still struggling.

I would suggest that many of you, you're not just tired, but you're depleted. And there's a big difference. Because if you're tired, you can take a nap. But if you're depleted, you actually need to be refilled. Why? Because your body isn't the only thing that needs rest. Your soul actually needs rest as well. And I came to preach some good news today.

If you're overwhelmed, Jesus made a promise to anyone who's exhausted or on the edge of burnout. Jesus promises to give you rest and not just rest for your body, but he promises to give you rest for your soul. We're going to look today at God's word in Matthew chapter 11, starting in verse 28. When Jesus said this, he said, come to me, what's the very next word? He said, come to me all you who are weary and burdened. And Jesus says, if you're worn out, if you're exhausted, I'll give you rest.

He said, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I'm gentle and humble in hearts. And when you come to Jesus, what will you find? He says, you will find rest not just for your bodies, but you'll find rest for your souls. Who does Jesus invite to come? said, come, what's the next word? He said, all. I like this. All. It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter how far you may feel from him right now. He's not mad at you. He's not disappointed by you. He loves you as you are and tells you to come to him. Jesus says, come, all who are weary and burdened and broken down and discouraged.

Come to him, he says, if you're weary and I'll give you rest. The word weary in the Greek is a very interesting word. It's the word copos, K-O-P-O-S. And this word very literally means exhaustion from intense labor or trouble. it means weary from a physical or emotional beating. Sometimes life can be like that, right? I just feel, I don't just feel tired. I feel beat down.

I feel like after what I've gone through, I barely even have the hope to go on. Copos, it's emotionally or physically beaten down. I remember maybe a year and a half ago, Pastor Tim Duremus from Life Church, Wichita, he preached on the Old Testament story of the Israelites when they were in slavery under Pharaoh in bondage, and he talked about their only value, you may remember,

was making bricks. The slaves, their value was in how many bricks they could make. From sunup to sundown, they made bricks. This was not just physically exhausting. It was so much more than this. It was copos. This was soul-crushing, mind-numbing, spirit-draining work.

And some of you know that well. Parenting can be copos. Being married to someone without Jesus can be copos. Being married to someone with Jesus can at times be copos. The price of a gallon of milk. can be copos. Trying to just make ends meet in this world can be copos.

Trying to deal with crazy people. They're everywhere. They're in front of you. They're behind you. They are you. And we're just down there making bricks. Just working, working, working, working, working, work and working. No end. No progress.

Physically drained. Emotionally exhausted. Thank God. is a different day. Not like back then. I'm so thankful with all of our technological advances and with all of our social progress and with all the wisdom that we've learned from TikTokers.

We no longer have to find our self-worth by the number of bricks that we make, right? We never try to impress someone with our stack of bricks or the likes we get, or the brand of shoes that we wear, or the kind of car that we drive. When we meet someone, we never say,

what do you do? Where do you work? How many bricks do you make? Right? How many followers do you have? What kind of grays you make? Where do you go to college? Measure you up?

What neighborhood do you live in? What kind of job? do you have? You got a side hustle? You got a YouTube channel? You even have a podcast, bro? And Jesus says, come to me when you're copos. When you're tired of the grind, when you're tired of the stress, when you're tired of feeling overwhelmed, when you're tired of battling with anxiety, when you're tired of making bricks, come to me when you think you should be able to handle it all

but you know that you can't and it's not that you're just physically sinking but your soul is shrinking and Jesus says come come come when you can't do any more

than you're already doing come when you've prayed and prayed and believed for a miracle and don't know if you can pray another prayer of faith. Come when you've done everything you know possible to get your child back on the right track. Come when you've worked and worked and worked two jobs and still can't make ends to me.

Come to me. When you're broken, you're hurting, you're discouraged, and you need rest. That's powerful. A savior, the son of God, the sinless son of God, He says, come to me all who are worn out. And he says, I will give you rest.

This is beautiful. And then it gets weird. It does. Because right after Jesus says, come to me, I'll give you rest. Then he says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. How many you know what a yoke is? If you don't, I'll show you pictures. A yoke is a wooden cross.

piece that's fastened over the neck of two different animals so they can work together, so they can work at the same pace. And then it's attached to a plow or a cart. In other words, a yoke is a work tool. So here's how it goes. If you're miserable, if you're tired, you can't do anymore, and you want a nap, you want to take a bubble bath. Come to me, and I'm going to put a weight around your neck. That's what Jesus is saying. That's like, that's in the Bible. It's right there.

It's in red. And when you talk about a yoke, there's no such thing as a single yoke. There's always the two that join two animals together so that they can do more together and so that they have to work at the same pace. They can get more done and they work at the same pace. Jesus is inviting us to join him. so that we work with him, tapping into his power, and we're actually working at a different pace.

In other words, he is not just inviting you to believe his truth, which he is, but he's inviting you to live his way, to live like Jesus lived. If you're tired, be joined to him. do life with his power, do life with his strength, do life with his rhythm, do life according to his pace. And I know what some of you're thinking right now,

you're thinking, but Jesus wasn't a single mom with two jobs. Fair enough. But Jesus didn't have student loan debt. But Jesus didn't work for my boss. True, like all fair. But there's still a lot, we can, learn from him because you have to admit he had a pretty big assignment. Be perfect.

Like never sin and give your life as the perfect sacrifice, the lamb of God. And what did Jesus do the whole time? He was available to his father and everywhere he went, he always would meet the agenda that his father said for him. If there was someone that was sick, he'd often stop and heal them. If there was someone that was broken, he would stop and listen to them. And when you look at Jesus, you'll notice that he was always busy, but he was never rushed. He always had something else to do, but he would also disconnect from the crowd and spend extended time with his father. Like literally, he's called into ministry, and what does he do? He takes a 40-day sabbatical.

Like that's the first thing. Like, I'm going to go spend some time with that because I need his wisdom. I need his strength. So I'm going to go fast and the devil mess with him. You can tell him to get behind me and, you know, here's the word of God just to shoot you down. Pop, pop, pop, bah, shoot the word. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'll use my sword.

Wack, whack, quack. And sword of spirit, you know. And so I'm going to beat off the enemy with the word and I'm just going to be with my father for a while. And everybody wanted him everywhere he went. all the crowds were fighting to get to see him. They either hated him or wanted him to heal them or sometimes both at the same place. And yet he seemed to have like long meals

with his disciples. And he'd have deep conversations with a stranger. Some woman out getting water and he'd just talk to her about her whole life. He would listen. And he would see people. And he would love the hurting and the kids would come up to him

and he'd like, you know, Talk to him and the kids loved him. He was always busy, but he was never rushed. And Jesus says to you that are overwhelmed, come to me and join my rhythms. Let me be your strength. Let's do life according to my pace. And this is what he said.

Let's look at it again. Jesus said this. He said, take my yoke, this work tool, upon you. so you can be joined with me. And he says, learn from me. Not just the truth that I say, but the way that I live. Learn from me. For I am gentle and humble and heart. And then he says something that is more profound than you probably realize if you've read this very meaningful verse before. He says, if you join me and if you learn from me, you will find what? Let's all say it loud. You'll find what? You'll find rest for your souls. If you join with me, if you work with me,

you will find rest for your souls. This word that's translated as rest is the word anaposin in Greek, A-N-A-P-A-U-S-I-N. This word only appears five times in Scripture. And this word means more than just rest. The translators say rest for your souls, but let me give you a very literal meaning. It means inner rest or peace while doing what needs to be done. This word, it means peaceful productivity. It's not rest from work, but it is rest in work. Hey, come to me and be joined together by a work tool so that you can work at my pace. And when you work at my pace, you're not going to be weary, but I'm going to give you rest, not rest from work.

Serving God keeps you busy. It's not about me time. It's all about he time. And I'm not just going to give you rest from doing. but I'm going to give you rest while you're doing things. And I'm going to try to explain this to you and I'll be a little bit transparent. I've talked openly about it. About 2019, I hit a wall.

And I've been going hard and a little hard and a little harder. It was always durable. Never, one time they ever missed preaching for anything in 33 years. Never for a birth, never for sickness, never for loss. never missed a preaching thing ever, and I guess the toll started to wear on me. And so I decided to get help, and I went and found counselors that were good for my situation, and I found two of the best. And I interviewed both of them. The first one, I said, hey, I think I'm burning out, kind of hitting a wall. And he almost laughed and said, you think I've never seen this before. You're like all the rest of them,

all the hard pushing ones end up there, and you're no different from the rest. hurt my feelings. Probably true, but hurt my feelings. Next guy, he stepped back and he goes, wow. He said, when I hear about all you're doing, he said, I realize, God made you different from the rest. And he said, you know what? We're not going to try to change you because God made you this way. We're not going to try to slow you down. He said, we're going to actually let you run harder, but we're going to do it in a way that's pleasing to God and helpful to you. I say, you're hired. I like that.

And he taught me, we're going to have some different rhythms, different rhythms, and it was all new to me. He said, what you've been taught your whole life is we're going to work, work, work, work, and then rest.

And then you're going to work, work, work, work, and then rest. And I would work, work, work, work, work, and then rest, and the rest was never enough. because they come back to the same dysfunctional rhythms. And he said, what we want to do is we want to get you to where you're working in a way that you're resting consistently and not waiting for some vacation in the future to save you,

but you're living according to the power of Jesus. So you're experiencing him consistently. And this is a different kind of rest. This was a rest I knew nothing of. In many ways, it was a rest from striving. It was a rest from trying to prove myself. It was a rest from me trying to have the strength to get it all done. Some of you are like this.

How many of you have a checklist? I have a checklist. My value comes from my checking things off my checklist. When I get to heaven, Jesus will say, well done, my good and checkable servant. Let me know what I'm talking about. Anybody want to see my checklist? I'm going to show you my two months worth of the content.

This is my checklist. So these are sermons that I will do in a two-month period. Those are all different sermons. Those are real ones. You see right there in the middle, that's coming up. Masterpiece, Overcome, or Salt Life, and then at the minute. Those are two months worth it. Take those away.

It's give me stress. That's my checklist. Those are different sermons that I will do over a two-month period. There were two sermons that I already did that I forgot to put on that list, so I wrote them in, you know why? So I could check them off. Some of you had that same sickness in your life.

But my value does not come from that list. I believe God sent me to tell someone here that your value does not come from what you produce. Your value does not come from what you do. Your value does not come from being the perfect mom. Your value doesn't come for providing for your family. Your value is solely based on who you are in Christ. Come to me, Jesus says.

Be yoked to me. Join with me. And so Amy will tell you, it's taking a lot of work for me to get here, but I am resting in work. meaning I am resting in work. I am not waiting for the vacation to recover. I'm working with the rhythms that God created,

honoring the Sabbath most weeks. Not all of them. I'm not going to lie to you. I'll strike me down, but most weeks and letting his power be more of what I need. So what is rest? What is the Jesus kind of rest? I'll define it this way.

rest is whatever refocuses you on the grace, the goodness, and the glory of God. That's real rest. That's a different kind of rest. That's a soul rest. It's not just taking a nap. It's not just putting a little umbrella in your drink and holding a thing by the beach. You know, taking a picture of your toes in your book. I'm going to hashtag blessed.

Hope you all hate me because I hated you. There's my picture. No, spiritual rest for your souls, it can come while you are reading God's word daily, where it's renewing your mind. It's conforming you to the image of Christ. It can be when you're praying, when you're dialoguing with God, or when you're listening to God. It can be when you're worshipping. For me, it's taking walks with my best friend, my bride.

It's just holding hands, walking, talking, dreaming, reflecting. just being with someone that I love. I took up flying three years ago, and flying, it takes my mind off of work. I get up above things, and guess what? When I'm above you, I'm not worried about you. You can do all that stuff you want, but I'm like above you.

And I see the beauty of God's creation from 6,000, 8,000 feet up. You might focus on the goodness of God when you're with people that you enjoy. You might focus on the goodness of God when you're at a prayer walk, just taking 30 minutes during your day, just sneaking out of the off and just walking and talking to God. Maybe it's when you're worshipping in your car. You're at a stoplight and they're laughing and you're worshiping.

I got a guy over there. You don't care. You're just praising God. Like crazy. Maybe you're just over a cup of coffee where you're just with someone that you love. Maybe God's word is open. It might be when you're gardening. This is God's creation.

I'm planting and watering. and he's they can grow it. It could be when you're using your gifts to paint or you're meeting with your Wednesday prayer group. You're resting in his love. You're resting in his forgiveness, the perfect work of Jesus. You're resting in his promises.

You're resting in his faithfulness. Whenever you're weak, you're resting in the truth of his word that his power is made perfect in your weakness. So if you're tired of the grind, if you're tired of the stress, if you're tired of being defined by what you do and what you produce,

Jesus says, come to me. Come to me. And I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest for your souls. In fact, I'm going to invite Pastor Rob just to help me, and I'm going to give you a moment, just to rest in his presence.

You may close your eyes if you want. You may pray quietly where you are, if you know the words you might sing along. But I'm going to tell you right now that the son of the living God, Jesus, the perfect sinless one who came not for those who were healthy, but he came for those who were sick. He didn't come for the righteous,

but he came for the broken sinners like you and like me. He didn't come for those who had it all together, but he came for those who knew that they couldn't do it on their own. And he said, come to me. come to me and I will give you rest for your souls it's not just rest from work but it's spiritual rest in work and he'll tell you if you listen they'll give it to you it's a gift just like salvation you don't earn it you don't deserve it you just have to receive it so what else do you do? What box do you check? Today? Nothing. Like nothing. Just come to him. Just come to him.

Just tell him you need him. Just cry out to him. Jesus says, come to me. All who are weary and heavy laden, come to him today. Come to him by faith. Cry out to him, Jesus. I need you. I worship you. Would you be enough? Come to him. Come to him. Come to him. Come to him. Rob, help me.

Come to him. Come to Jesus. He loves you as you are. Come all. If you're searching for a place to just be honest. Come to Jesus. He loves you as you are. He's waiting.

His arms are open wide. If you're wishing you could let your guard come down. If you feel like you can hold it all together. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. He says no need for any hide. The father's house you're met with open arms. He worship you, Father. And he gives grace without compassion.

As you are, with nothing else just come. We need you. We need your grace. We need your power. There's no need for any hiding. Thank you, Jesus. In the father's house, you're made with open on.

With nothing else just come. Come on the Jesus. If anyone hears my voice and opens a door, Jesus says, I will come in. He draws near to learn from your sin. Turn from your brokenness. Just say his name.

His name is Jesus. Who is he? He is your Redeemer. He is the sinless son of God, the Lamb who was slain. His name is Jesus. He's no need. providing you to come. And he gives grace

without condition. So as you are, with nothing else, just come. And so, Father, we come to you now. We come to you now humbly. We need you.

We need more of you. We need more of you. Today at all of our churches, those who go in line, that you are worn out. It's not just that you're physically tired, but maybe you're spiritually discouraged. maybe you're emotionally depleted.

Maybe you've done all that you can do and you can't do anymore. If you need the presence and the grace and the power of Jesus, would you just lift up your hands right now all around our room today? Online, just type in the comment section, I need more of Jesus. Just type it, I need more of Jesus. Go ahead and leave your hands up if you want to, maybe even an act of worship, and we just say, Jesus, we're coming to you right now. We thank you that you invite us to come.

Even when we're unworthy, even when we're unclean, and when we've done it all ourselves and we can't do anymore, we're weary, we're burdened, we're heavy laded, we just come to you. And we thank you that you are gentle, that you are humble and heart. We thank you that you invite us to join you, to take your yoke and to be yoked to you, not just to know your truth, but to live your truth. Jesus, I pray today for those who can't do anymore. God, in our weakness, would you be our strength? God, I pray for hurting marriages. I pray for hurting parents. I pray for those who need miraculous provision.

I pray for those that need a miracle from heaven, God, that we would come, come, come, in the name of Jesus. We come to the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus, and we just come to you. Nothing else. We just come. Would you be enough? We pray this in the name of who?

with me. We're praying the name of Jesus. Jesus. As you keep praying today, there are some of you here that you don't know where you stand with God. And I would just invite you at all of our churches. If you could just kind of keep your posture, prayer, maybe keep your eyes closed. I want to talk to any of you today that don't know where you stand with God. If I ask you, hey, are you okay with God? Are you close to God? are you right with God? If you hesitate for a moment, if there's any hesitation, any explanation, I'm talking to you. If you don't know where you stand, I'm talking to you today. And I want to tell you how good God is. Jesus is the son of God. God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son Jesus, Jesus, the Lamb of God, Jesus perfect in every way. And he didn't come for the church

people who looked perfect. He came for the sinners who needed a Savior. He came for the broken, and he came for the hurting. He came for people like me. He came for people like you. And Jesus gave his life on a cross. He shed innocent blood in our place. So we could be forgiven. And God defeated death, hell, and the grave

by raising Jesus from the dead so that anyone, and this includes you, anyone, he says, come all, anyone who calls on the name that is above every name, anyone who calls on the name of Jesus, that you would be forgiven,