Refuel

Sometimes we need to stop working and recharge ourselves.

You are invited to an evening of refueling ourselves in the presence of God through worship.

This Sunday, June 27 at 6pm.

What To Do When You Are Overtired

Here is the problem. When a person is overtired, they lack better judgment that keeps them from getting overtired in the first place (you may want to read that a few times...smile).


Here are 5 ways to get rest when you need it.

1. Ask someone to hold you accountable to resting. (To getting to bed by a certain time or to taking an afternoon off or to go golfing, etc.)

2. Decide what won't get done. Rather than beating yourself up and stressing yourself out trying to do everything and then disappointing yourself when you prove that you can't, choose ahead of time some things to leave undone.

3. Remember that when you are overtired, you tend to make worse decisions. Sometimes you can make decisions that exacerbate the problem instead of fixing it. ie: Don't watch TV until 11 pm when you are already overtired.

4. Make a finish line. Do what needs to be done, then when it is finished, have a plan for some time off. One of the mistakes I have made is to run like mad in a busy season, working my weekends and days off and then head straight back to work (normal life). Going into the next week at a normal pace after an extremely busy week leaves a person sapped of energy. Better to plan a day off after a busy time.

5. Listen to your attitudes and physical signals and try to catch it before it gets too bad. A bad attitude is often a sign of tiredness. If you catch yourself having a bad attitude or physical signs of tiredness, get some rest before it gets worse. If you can catch tiredness before it becomes exhaustion, you can save yourself a lot of pain.

Oxygen

Yesterday's sermon was on the third ingredient for keeping God's fire in our soul alive and well. Oxygen. Here are some of the thoughts we went through as we discussed how to make space in our lives for God to speak, to guide, to fill, and to refresh us.

Most of us live life at a pace our souls can’t keep up with.
“The only problem with success is that the formula for achieving it is the same as the formula for a nervous breakdown.” Charles Swindoll

“The pace of the modern world accentuates our sense of being fractured and fragmented. We feel strained, hurried, breathless. The complexity of rushing to achieve and accumulate more and more frequently threatens to overwhelm us; it seems that there is no escape from the rat race.” Richard Foster

What does this do to our souls? Leaves us discouraged, tired, exhausted, worn out, burnt out (like a lamp), lost, confused, dazed, on edge, rushed, stressed…you can’t keep a fire alive in that! It’s suffocating our spiritual fires.

“God never guides us into an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness…We have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power. If only we could slip over into that Center!” – Thomas Kelly

So what’s the answer? Jesus guides us into a very different way of life that allows room for our souls to breathe.

Mat 11:28-30 "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. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

What we need is to simplify our lives so that we can simply live.

“The truth is, as much as we complain about it. We are drawn to hurry. It makes us feel important. It keeps the adrenaline pumping. It means we don’t have to look too closely at the heart or life. It keeps us from feeling our loneliness.” – Ortberg


Jesus was extremely focused, had a mission, tons of work to do and yet was calm, had space for His soul to be refreshed and alive, how?

Luke 5:16 “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

“It is the space between the notes that makes the music.” Noah Benshea

Psalm 119:114 You're my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me."

Psalm 23 in a busy world:

The clock is my dictator; I shall not rest.
It makes me lie down only when exhausted.
It leads me to depression.
It hounds my soul.

It leads me in circles of frenzy for activity's sake
Even though I run frantically from task to task
I will never get it all done, for my "ideal" is with me.
Deadlines and my need for approval, they drive me.
They demand my performance from me
beyond the limits of my schedule.

They anoint my head with migraines.
My in-basket overflows.
Surely fatigue and time pressure shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the bonds of frustration forever.

Our lives are like most people's garages. They were made for cars, but end up too filled with stuff to fit the cars in anymore. We were made for people, for relationships, and most of all for God…but our lives get so full of stuff we have no room for what we were made for anymore. We have overcrowded souls.


We need solitude with God so that we have space to listen, space to plan, space to play, and space to rest.

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16