Rest for your soul podcast notes

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly a third of working Americans – or nearly 41 million people – are sleep deprived.
Less than 50% of Americans say they regularly get a solid night’s sleep — the worst ranking for that particular sleep stat in the industrialized world.

Rest is important to us.

The sleep industry does an astonishing 32.8 billion dollars of business in the US alone. Included in this number are medications, mattresses, noise canceling machines, slippers, scented candles, and sleep inducing sheets. Let me give you an example.

Bed Bath and Beyond lists more than 600 products under the sleep category. Here are some of my favorites

The Brookstone Tranquil Moments Advanced Sleep Sounds system (for about $170);
The Sleep for Success down-alternative pillow with an “exclusive tri-chamber design” and “temperature management system” . That’s a lot for a pillow to accomplish and it does so for about $50.

Here’s my favorite. The DogPedic Sleep System bed with memory foam that “warms and soothes” the “aching joints, pressure points and hip dysplasia” of sleep-deprived pooches. That goes for about $40.

What will you do for rest?
What keeps you from getting the rest you need?

Let me read you some great wisdom on rest. Just let them wash over you.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11

I want you to notice something about Jesus words. He doesn’t say, “Oh, sure, now come to me. Now that you are weary and burdened you come to me. Look who came crawling back.”

What are the pre-requisites for anyone to take advantage of this rest. All who are weary and burdened. Those are the only qualifications you need.

Lets do a little self evaluation

Are you weary? Are you worn out, burned out, exhausted by life
Are you burdened? Are you carrying too much. You’re issues, work issues, your kids issues.
Do you need rest? Are you tired? Do you have a hard time sleeping through the night? Do you have a difficult time shutting your mind down at night? Even though you have a sleep number bed and a memory foam pillow, you can’t get a full night of rest.

You can’t rest until you stop running

Here’s the line that points to one of our biggest enemies of rest. Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

According to these verses do the pagan’s do. What do people who don’t have God in control of their life do? They run. You can’t rest when you are running.

How do you see people running in our culture?

Are you running today?
Are you running at work?
Are you running to keep up with your work at home?
Are you running to get ahead financially?
Most of us are running aren’t we.

Forbes Magazine.
The main driver of the growth of the sleeping industry is the one you’re holding in your hand. We’re using digital devices later and later into the evenings and struggling to shift into anything resembling peaceful, continuous sleep. Digital devices from smartphones to laptops to TVs emit blue light (also known as short-wavelength enriched light), which tricks the brain into producing less melatonin, a hormone crucial for restful sleep.

When we look at this device there is one singular message. Run. Run to google for answers. Run to email to make sure you keep up. Do a quick calendar check to make sure you’re not following behind. Run. We all know that you can’t rest when you’re running.

Jesus gives us the answer to this pace problem we have in the next line. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Seek in the original language means to crave, to aim at, to strive after. That’s basically what the word run means in verse 32. The words are almost identical. The only difference is that Run is the word Epizetero which means run after and seek is the word Zetero which means run.

There really is no difference in the word. Either way your running. It’s not the pace that is the problem it’s the direction.

What are things that we run after that we don’t really need to run after?

Jesus says seek me first. Put my priorities first. Run after my kingdom first. Seek what you can do for me first. Because when I’m first whatever you accomplish has true meaning. It’s satisfying.

What are the things we run after that are satisfying?

He challenges us to serve others.

Jesus wants us to be close to him.

Do you think that church is an area of your life that can keep you running?

I know this sounds odd, but it’s a reality. In fact, if you go back to the time when Jesus said these words these were the people he was talking about. He was talking about people who were weary and burdened and work out by church.

A former pastor from Seattle named Mark Driscoll asked his people this question on Facebook and twitter. What are some religious rules that you have personally experienced in your church experience. Let me give you some of my favorite.

Ryan says, My family was in a nationwide school and ministry group the leader of which believed that the wearing of blue jeans was wrong because it gave the impression of rebellion

Cara said We were not allowed to wear black polo’s at our private Christian school any other colors were okay, but not black because if you wear black you love the devil

Cassie says I have a friend who’s parents believe it was wrong to trick or treat and the reason they gave is that halloween is satan’s birthday. And I’m not finished. Then they had a baby born on halloween.
You can see that poor women trying to have that baby “No, I have to wait until November 1st”

Josh is a high school kid in a public school. He says “There is a very religious kid at my school who thinks he will go to hell if he eats shrimp so if we have it for hot lunch he gives it away.” Just think about that for a second. You’ll go to hell if you eat shrimp, here have mine.

Some of us grew up in places like that. If you really want to be spiritual you have to
Do your devotions
Pray 20 minutes a day
Go to church three times a week
Get a haircut. That was my church growing up.

You can’t rest until you stop trying to do it on your own

You can’t find rest until you stop faking it. You can find rest until you stop trying to do it all yourself.

He says come to me. Come to me. If work has burned you out come. If your schedule is crazy come. If you have been trying to earn your way into being good enough come. Come to me. I will give you rest. I won’t lay any heavy guilt trip on you.

Love these verses. Prayed them into your life this morning

“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’”
Acts 2:25-28

By law, every country in the European Union has at least four work weeks of paid vacation. Austria, which guarantees workers the most time off, has a legal minimum of 22 paid vacation days and 13 paid holidays each year. The average private sector U.S. worker receives 16 paid vacation days and holidays.Jun 8, 2013