When You’re Too Busy for What Matters

well in order to introduce the message today what i want to do is i want to tell you a true story of something that happened recently at a gym with my best friend and my bride amy now you have to understand that i always love being with amy anything we're doing together is something i love but being in a gym it just takes it to a whole nother level of spiritually intimate uh so we were at a hotel we had a little bit of time before an event and she was looking what i would just say was like appropriately pastor wife cute you know what i'm saying like not too extra but like extra enough to like that's a godly woman there and she looked good and i was doing arms because men generally care about arms and she was doing legs and treadmill because for whatever reason she usually cares about legs and treadmill and she was on the treadmill and i had kind of a pump going and so when you say your flex and i was actually flexing when i walked up to her kind of like in this moment like there's a lot of people here in the gym i want them all to know that i'm with her so i just kind of walked up while she was on the treadmill and she's walking along and they have you know there she's tread milling and they had the little rail things and so i just went up beside and just kind of did this and leaned up against the treadmill and said what's a cute thing like you doing in a place like this and she laughed and she giggled and as i was leaning up against her treadmill i had no idea that my elbow was leaning up against the thing that controls the speed [Applause] of the treadmill well this was a nice treadmill and so it didn't pick up speed rapidly but ever so slowly and as i was kind of flirting with my wife she started to walk a little bit faster it was so gradual i didn't even really notice it until her eyes started to look slightly confused and slightly afraid within moments it wasn't just a fast walk but it's turned into a slow jog and moments later she looked at me terrified in a full-blown sprint grabbing the sides lifting her legs to save her life and she's looked at me and said were you trying to kill me or something [Applause] i started laughing and she wasn't laughing at all the whole time i had no idea that i was leaning against the lever that gradually increased her pace we laugh about that now and i think it's a good illustration of what often happens in our own lives little by little barely noticeable at first we do a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more and we get a little bit more efficient and we get a little bit more aggressive and we take on a job and another job and some student loan debt and a car payment and a girlfriend who becomes a wife who gives us a baby who has diapers and another baby and more diapers and preschool and mother's day out and soccer and dance and ballet and braces and more kids and second job and debt and all of a sudden we wake up one day and we feel overwhelmed and i wonder how many of you in your own way would say i always feel a little bit rushed or anxious or overwhelmed that all that i have to do and there's not enough hours in the day and so if you're like me we try to squeeze a little bit more i try to become a little bit more efficient i will analyze the lines in a grocery store i'll analyze the potential capacity and speed of a car as i pull up to a light trying to get behind the right one i'm so busy i'll multitask in the bathroom anybody know what i'm talking about doing business while i'm doing business is this too real i'm just going to talk to the real people today and it's not just being rushed but i wonder how many of you would also say occasionally or maybe even often you're disappointed the way your life's going and because of the pace and because of the intensity sometimes you start to think is there something that's missing i have no time to do the things that i want to do no time to do the things that i love or worse yet i don't really even have time for the people that i love and you might start to ask yourself is life really supposed to be this way what if i told you that the greatest enemy to the life you want may be the life that you're living let me say it again what if i told you that the greatest enemy to the life that you want may be the life that you're living the title for today's message is when you're too busy for what matters father we pray that by the power of your spirit and the truth of your word that you would speak to us in a way god that would lead us not just to the truth of jesus but also empower us to live the way that jesus lived and loved the way that jesus loved we pray in jesus name and all god's people said amen amen confession the message that i'm going to try to preach to you today is one of the most difficult messages for me to preach because it is completely the opposite of the way that i live in fact you don't have to be around me for long to understand that i despise slow i mean i really do like i hate it it offends me it i i my staff will tell you like i don't understand coffee standing i die i i it it it makes me crazy it really does i know some of you like that stuff but i don't understand it oh okay um i may have been the guy who said like the devil doesn't take a day off so neither do i i'll slow down when i get to heaven i may have said some things like that and and mince it and i'm guessing and i'm hoping that most of you at least many of you are not as dysfunctional as i am but i'm guessing that a lot of you are busier than you know that you should be because we got places to be all of us jobs to do bills to pay kitchens to clean kids to raise news to read biased news to reach to get really bad yards to mow dinner to cook clothes to buy clothes to wash clothes to wash clothes to wash clothes and not wear clothes to buy more clothes because you don't wear the clothes you got photos to take captions to write soul numbing next flicks series to binge out on and just because the pace of life is what it is you find yourself going faster and faster and faster and faster until you're sprinting and you realize i don't have time for some things i wish i had time for we don't really have time for meals with our family and we don't really have time for deep conversation with our friends and we don't have time to rest or reflect or read or really enjoy intimacy with our heavenly father we just don't have time but the good news is neither does anybody else still must be okay right everybody else is busy so that must be god's will right what if i told you that the greatest enemy to the life that you want may be the life that you're currently living and that's why we're in a message series called the better way a better way we're not just looking at the truth of jesus which we always do and always will but we're also examining the way that jesus lived and the way that jesus loved the way that jesus lived in fact when you look at the gospels and take a step back it's pretty fascinating to think about the way that jesus lived he had three years of ministry and that was it three years of kind of public ministry and in those three years he embraced the father's mission he recruited a heavenly team of 12 ragtags trained them in kingdom values he endured the hatred of the pharisees he resisted the temptation of the devil he healed all sorts of sick people he loved all sorts of hurting people he preached the word of god fearlessly he fulfilled 351 old testament prophecies and jesus never once ran when you read the gospels there is no record of him ever running jogging fast walking skipping sprinting jesus was busy but he was never rushed he never said to his disciples shoot boys we're behind schedule come on let's go let's go thomas is lady leaving behind we're going to teach him unless they need us in comparison we got to get there right now he was busy with important stuff but he's never rushed on the inside he never once ran in fact i'm going to show you a phrase from mark's gospel mark chapter 2 verse 14. and this is a phrase you can see over and over again in other gospels and the phrase is this uh mark said this about jesus he said as jesus said aloud with me he said as jesus did what as jesus walked along as jesus over and over again as jesus walked along as jesus walked along he saw levi the son of aphias sitting at a tax collector's booth and jesus said to him follow me and levi got up and he followed jesus i was thinking about levi and it was fascinating to me if jesus was unrushed and levi followed jesus he walked with jesus then levi should have been living an unrushed life and then i thought about us and i thought if we follow and unrush jesus we should be living an unrushed life but the way i live is very different from the way that jesus lived so if you find yourself kind of like amy on the treadmill and the pace has picked up beyond what you expected and you're often rushed or stressed or overwhelmed or exhausted trying to get it all done always falling short jesus invites you to come he invites you to come to him if you're worn out if you're overwhelmed if you're burdened and he will give you something that many of you have not experienced in a long time he will give you a heavenly rest we looked last week at a text i want to revisit it again we looked last week at matthew 11 from the new international version i want to read it to you today from a version known as the message to be clear this is not a word for word translation it's more of a devotional translation from a guy named eugene peterson and he translates it loosely this way he asked the question quoting loosely the words of jesus are you tired worn out burned out on religion jesus says come to me get away with me and you'll recover your life i'll show you how to take a real rest then jesus says this he says walk with me not run but walk with me and work with me do it at my pace watch how i do it learn i love this phrase let me learn the unforced rhythms of grace i won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you jesus says keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and light me jesus says get away with me and you'll recover your life walk with me watch how i walk walk watch how i love watch how i live and walk with me don't just believe what jesus believed do that but also live the way jesus lived and i want you to just think about the way that he lived he only lived for 33 years and he was called to be perfect and save the world his mission was to give his life and he waited 30 years before he initiated a public ministry it's fascinating to think about what jesus did he was baptized by god the father heaven opens up and the holy spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove and the father says this is my son whom i love with him i'm well pleased god affirms him even before he publicly does any miracles and so jesus is commissioned to change the world he's ready to go out and do what he was created to do and what's the first thing he does he takes a sabbatical that's what he does the spirit leads them out into a dry place for 40 days he calls out on the father he draws close to god is strengthened by god fights off the enemy and his identity is solidified in who he's called to be he takes 40 days to go be with god think about his first miracle where was it it's interesting to me is it a wedding jesus like went to a wedding and he didn't like big time him like i'm the sog i'm the son of god gotta bounce okay he didn't do that he he stayed till the very end and then when they ran out of the party juice he turned water into wine and said let's just keep this thing going longer let's just enjoy each other one time a synagogue leader came up to him his name was jerius or some call him jairus an important guy and he's wigging out i freaked out my little girl's dying my baby girl's dying you got you've got to come save her and jesus i'll get there and jesus starts walking to go see this sick little girl and as he's walking along another woman stops him interrupts him and is crying she's been sick for 12 years and as another little girl is dying he gives this woman his undivided attention and heals her and while he's taken his sweet loving time the first girl dies and it does beside himself and jesus says time's in my hands and he heals her anyway i mean it's crazy you look at it all the way down to his transportation choice he's the son of god if he's coming on an animal he can choose whatever one he wants i'm jesus i'm on a horse white one fast one he comes riding in on a donkey a walking animal i can get they know donkey in a rush again you've never seen eeyore run a red light i promise you okay as he walked if jesus wasn't rushed and we're called to follow jesus if jesus wasn't rushed in his soul why do you think we are why are we i am just a preacher not a counselor so i can't really say but here's my guess based on a lot of pastoral ministry my guess is if we really simplified it most of us are rushed over worked prescient pushing it because we're either running from something or running to something most of us me if i analyze i'm probably running from insignificance and i'm running toward acceptance i don't know what yours would be you might be running from a past failure you might be running from something said someone said about you you might be running from an insecurity that you're going to overcome and prove them wrong you're running from a hurt you're running from abuse or you're running to something you got the goal you got the vision i'm going to get married oh he's going to be so fine he's going to love jesus we're gonna get matching cross tattoos we're gonna name our kids elijah and mary because they're in the bible you know it's gonna you know we're gonna have a dog and name him whatever you know you're running towards success you're running toward the image you're running toward popularity you're running toward fame you're working toward being liked you want you want to be whatever it is you're accepted the problem is for most people in today's culture is you're chasing a life that will still leave you empty once you find it what if the greatest enemy to the life that you want is actually the way that you're living right now always rushed always push it something you say you'll understand preacher boy you know like i got a full-time job you're just a pastor you just work on sundays you know i gotta i got a full-time job or whatever i don't i don't have time i don't i literally can't get it all done i can't slow down there's too much moving and i want to say very respectfully to you that you have time for what you choose to have time for you do your time you have time for what you choose to have time for and if i can get up your business just a little bit the solution is not more time the solution is more of what matters most is more of what matters most and the reason why most of us don't have time for what matters is because we're mindlessly spending our life on what doesn't matter and i'm going to prove it to you i could pick any number of different illustrations but i've chosen three that are incredibly common i'll show you up on our screen first of all social media how many of you are involved in some form of social media raise up your hands okay second one would be television the third one would be video games let's start with social media did you know that the average person on social media how much time do they think they spend a year the average person in a year spends 706 hours per year the good news is a lot of you are younger you're above average baby you're way up there you're way up there now how much time is that to to really understand i like to do comparisons and uh a traditional work day is usually about eight hours correct uh 706 hours on social media if you divided that into just normal work days that is approximately four and a half months of working hours that people spend on social media you have time for what you choose to have time for television is a little worse over 2700 hours binge watching the latest version of whatever your popular show is now before we go to video games i'm going to pick on the guys gentlemen if you're a gentleman would you raise your hand even if you're not if you're a male raise your hand perfect you want to be a gentleman okay now i am going to pick on you but i do want you to know i'm guilty as charge i grew up in kind of the more classic era of video games donkey kong frogger pac-man gallic and stuff you don't know what that is you only know what it is you would you wouldn't like it and i could probably have paid for your college education and mine one quarter at a time so that's that's i'm guilty the average guy by the age of 21 spends about 10 000 hours 10 000 hours by the age of 21 that shouldn't say per year by the time you're 21 they spend about 10 000 hours on computer games what can you do with 10 000 hours i'll give you some options one thing you can do at ten dollars now hour you can make a hundred grand that's one thing another thing you can do is if you're an average reader you can read about 2 000 books another thing you can do with 10 000 hours you can probably become a concert pianist you can get your pilot's license you can memorize the new testament you can get your undergraduate and graduate degree let's take it to relationships you could possibly save your struggling marriage if you devoted that much energy to the person that you may be walking away from you could possibly reconcile a relationship with a family member that's gone bad and you could perhaps have the most intimate relationship with your children that you ever imagined if you'd put away whatever the stupid thing that you is doing and invested in them you could have something that really matters or [Music] or you can mindlessly waste your life on stuff that doesn't what if the greatest enemy to the life that you want is the life that you're living so what do i do now pastor craig and the answer is i don't know i'm struggling too i don't know i i'm like working on this too i'm like the guy who says by my hair i used to be bald too i'm the owner of the hair club whatever it is i'm a fellow struggler uh what do i do i don't know what i'm not gonna do is i'm not gonna give you a lot to do but what i am going to do is tell you this that if you don't slow down god may make you slow down and that's what he did for me i told you last week that i had a kind of a surprise surgery that put me on my bottom for uh extended period of time and i had to face my ongoing addiction to work and adrenaline and call it what it is and i've said that before and i've gone on before and now i'm getting serious about it um i went to the basics who is god and the answer at its core the best answer is god is love it's not just what he does but is who he is what is the greatest command jesus said to love the lord your god with all your heart mind soul and strength and to do what else and to love your neighbor as yourself at the core of all that god calls us is to love to be loved by him to love him and to love people on behalf of his love the challenges and john mark comer writes about this in his book love is incompatible with hurry and i'm always in a hurry love the bible says paul's first definitions love is patient love takes time hurry doesn't have time so what i'm going to do is i'm going to share with you a prayer that i've been praying just one prayer and i'm going to invite you and challenge you and maybe dare you maybe double dog dare you to pray this prayer just first thing in the day whatever that kind of looks like for you you can even have your cup of coffee and pray it with your cup of coffee and i'm going to challenge you to do it for seven days every day just pray this mean it sit in it and then see what god does as you ask him to do this and the prayer is very simple the prayer is this god help me walk slowly enough to experience jesus fully and love people deeply god help me to walk slowly enough to experience jesus fully and love people deeply would you mind just just kind of saying that quietly wherever you're watching this today say god help me walk slowly enough to experience jesus fully and to love people deeply one more time just just say it just say it out loud god help me walk slowly enough to experience jesus fully and to love people deeply what's going to happen if you pray that prayer answers i don't know for sure but i will tell you what god's been doing in me and it's a deep work it's a real work and it's a healing work the first thing that god has been doing in me is he's been teaching me to be present in the moment i'm starting to recognize that i'm often there physically but not there mentally and as i'm praying this prayer i'm engaging with my children and leaving my phone to the side i am listening to people when oftentimes my mind would be spinning away i am i'm seeing needs in the lives of people that i often was too busy to see and i'm actually entering into the joy of hurting with people and there's a there's a there's a sense of fulfillment in celebrating with those who celebrate and grieving with those who grieve there's something rich about that it's helping me to be present in the moment second thing is it's helping me to choose what's important and to eliminate what's not as i'm asking god to lead my steps and to help me to walk slowly suddenly i'm just more aware that picking up my phone to look at something's not nearly as important as a person who's in front of me is helping me say no to what doesn't matter and yes to what does and there's a lot of things that i end up drifting toward that really don't matter much and here's what you might find and let me just just say this clearly you may say no to some good things right now to say yes to some better things but just because you say no right now doesn't mean you have to say no forever if it may be no for now but not for you you may like love i don't know hot yoga or gardening or playing on the softball team or whatever but you got three babies in diapers and so you may have a no for now but it's not enough forever it's just in this season there's something more important you have time for what you choose to have time for the solution is not more time the solution is more of what matters this prayer is helping me to be present in the moment to choose what's most important to eliminate what's not and most importantly to me is is helping me to sense god's presence and recognize his voice it's helping me to see him working in places that i was too busy to notice he's prompting me to ask an additional question when i'm with somebody not ending the conversation but digging just a little bit deeper he's prompting me to pray more with people and not feel like i'm your pastor so can i pray but i'm the i'm your friend can i pray he's taken me to a different level and and here's what i've noticed as i'm walking slower with jesus and he's helping me love him and experience him and love people i'm noticing that i'm starting to become just a little bit more like him because think about this if you will as jesus walked along as jesus walked along every person that jesus loved and every miracle that jesus performed he did as he walked as he walked along god used him and so my invitation is for you to join me join amy seven days pray and see what happens every day god help me to walk slowly enough to experience jesus fully and to love people deeply and here's what's so interesting as jesus walked [Music] all of his ministry all of his life following the will of the father where was jesus walking jesus was always walking toward the cross day after day step after step moment after moment he was fulfilling god's calling for him and expressing the deepest and most profound love for you he was walking toward the cross and so when we know jesus is the way the truth and the life we don't just embrace the truth that he taught but we also live and love the way that jesus lived and the way that he loved and as i learned to walk with jesus i'm becoming more like jesus and imagine if in an angry and hurting and divided world if there was a loving caring and united church walking slowly enough to engage with those who are far from god to show the love of a god who stepped out of heaven and came to earth in the person of his perfect and sinless son jesus who day after day [Music] walked toward the cross to give his life for you if you're following jesus guess where you're walking you're walking to lay down your life for something so much more important the answer is not more time it's more of what matters you have time for what you choose to have time for so god help me walk slowly enough to experience jesus fully and to love people deeply and father we ask that you would do that work in the hearts of your church as you continue praying today online or at all of our churches those of you who would say yeah i'm overwhelmed i'm stressed i don't have the most time i'm just gonna invite you to come to jesus and invite you just to pray that prayer with me this week if you would just commit our pastors will actually give you this prayer and tell you um specifically how to get it and keep it with you and to pray this prayer if you'll commit just to do that seven days let's just see what god does god just help us to slow down to walk with you slowly enough to love you fully to love people deeply if you'll pray that with me over the next week would you lift up your hands right now just lift up your hands if you're watching online you can type in the chat i'm in i'll be praying whatever it is just type in the chat and let us know as well i'll be praying as well father i um thank you in advance for all the different ways we're going to see you and for all the different ways we will enjoy what matters most as you lead our steps as you direct us god help us to walk with you to be willing to be interrupted by you to see needs in people and feel joy that we might have the opportunity and honor of helping me to need and god even being blessed as we're a blessing to others we thank you god there might be healing there might be there might be reprioritizing god we pray that your truth would sink deep within our hearts that we have time to do what you've called us to do god help us to choose what matters most help us to love you to love your people as we're loved by you as you keep praying today nobody looking around let me ask you again what if the greatest enemy to the life that you want is the life that you're living there are some of you right now if i can just talk to a few different groups of people some of you are like you're not you're not a religious person you're not really a church person and you've been trying everything haven't you maybe this relationship will make me happy maybe that relationship maybe this job maybe that job maybe this much money that much money this house that house these countertops those countertops this car that car these shoes those shoes this city that city this thrill this experience and you continue to come up empty why maybe it's because you're trying to shape a god-shaped void with something that is not god maybe it's because you're a spiritual being created by god to know his goodness and nothing in this world will satisfy but jesus maybe you're like you're a church person like i was growing up and you're trying to find meaning and religion and you're trying to do good works and you still come up short maybe it's because you're trying to find meaning in the things you do instead of the god who created you at all of our churches today or wherever you're watching if you recognize there is something missing you're longing for something more maybe it's that your sin has separated you from a relationship with god and when you step into the fullness of what god has for you jesus is the way he is the way to the father he is the truth and the truth that sets you free and the way and the truth leads you to the life that god wants you to have it is a life more abundantly it is a gift from god if you don't have it and you want it i would encourage you step away from your sin step toward god when you call in the name of jesus he hears your prayers he forgives your sins he makes you brand new you're here today you're watching today because this is your moment this is your time you need something different there's a better way there's a better way his name is jesus he is the son of god when you call out to him he hears your prayers your past is forgiven and you become new today wherever you are you say i want it i need his forgiveness i want his grace today i surrender my life i give it to jesus that's your prayer lift your hands high right now all over the place say yes i lift them up we see hands going up all over the place right here praise god for you right over here as well wow wow wow church online youtube just type in the chat i'm giving my life to jesus and as we have people today all over the world surrendering to the lordship of christ where you pray with those around you nobody prays alone pray heavenly father forgive all of my sins jesus save me be first in my life fill me with your spirit so i could know you and serve you and follow you for the rest of my life lead me in your ways to love like you love and live like you live in jesus name i pray because somebody celebrate welcome those born into the family of god come on somebody [Applause] you

Channel: Life.Church

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Keywords: Craig Groeschel, Sermon, Life.Church, Lifechurch, life church, life church sermons, craig rochelle, groeschel craig, church sermons 2021, a better way, when you’re too busy for what matters, unhurried rhythms of grace, how to be present, sense god's presence, recognize god's voice, how to get closer to god, unrushed jesus, unrushed life, running from something, feeling lost in life, how to stop feeling empty, disappointed in life, jesus never rushed, heavenly rest, worn out

Id: a9tEoTM_4tk

Length: 37min 37sec (2257 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 22 2021

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7-day prayer:

"God, help me walk slowly enough to experience Jesus fully and love people deeply." Teach me to be present in the moment. Show me what's important and what matters and what's good and right and pure and true and just so that I can choose those things – so I can eliminate within me all of the things that I let keep me from life and correct my path. Lead my steps and show me the way; I will sense your presence and recognize your voice and listen.