Rest Isn't About You | Summer In The Psalms | Pastor Ben Calmer

As I want to talk for the next couple minutes about this idea of rest up, everybody say, rest up. Rest up. Joshua, chapter one. Everybody ready? Okay.

Everybody ready? Okay. We're gonna go as fast as I can, because I got a lot to talk about. Joshua, chapter 1, verse 12. Then Joshua called together the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

He told them, remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord commanded you. The Lord your God is giving you a place of. Everybody say it. Rest. All right, here we go.

He has given you this land. God has given them rest. Listen, just a little background. The Israelites have been traveling a long time. The Israelites don't have a place of their own.

The Israelites have been going through the desert for over 40 years. The Israelites have fought through slavery. They have fought through so many different other things. And finally, finally, everybody say, finally, finally, they're getting some rest. God said, I'm giving you this rest, but it's just for these two and a half tribes.

It's the east side of the Jordan. And so he said, I'm going to give you rest. And I'm sure that when they heard that, they're like, wow, we have been pushing and pulling and making so many moves. And we're so thankful for the rest that God has given. And it's not just then.

It wasn't just then. The great thing about the Bible is it didn't just happen. It's happening. Come on, church. The Bible just didn't happen.

Happen is happening, meaning that things that God did back then, God still does now. Come on, church. This is the rowdy time where I need to hear a little more encouragement. Where I need to hear a little more like, oh, yeah, God is moving. He just did.

I'm not telling a Sunday school story. I'm actually talking about something that God can do in your life, too. So that means when he gives Israel rest, God says, I'm gonna give you rest today. So if you came this morning and you need some more energy, you came this morning and you're wondering, man, why do I feel like I'm all used up? I'm telling right now, God has energy for you.

God has rest for you. Some of you are feeling like, man, I don't feel like my life is restful. I don't feel like I have a lot of rest. And it's not just adults. The younger generation is feeling this, too.

Let me read this. This is from the National Institute of Stress says pressures to fit in, maintain physical appearance, navigate Romantic relationships and avoid social exclusion are major psychological burdens on high school and junior high students. A societal focus on constant productivity and achievement forces many teens into feeling they must constantly be striving for perfection. In fact, the National Institute of Stress said that high school students said they have. 75% of high school students say they feel stressed out.

I'm like, what, they ain't paying a mortgage?

No. But they feel stressed.

They feel overworked. They feel like, man, how am I going to measure up? And it's not just teenagers. They're seeing it in their adult figures. They're seeing it in the society that's around them.

Because we feel this. We feel like, man, how am I gonna work through all of these different things? How am I gonna work through the financial pressure that I feel? How am I gonna work through the things at my job where I should get a promotion, but I keep getting responsibility instead? Come on, Anybody ever had a job like that where you're like, I would love for you to give me a raise, but you just keep giving me more work, you know, but.

And it keeps building stress upon stress. And I'm not talking about just that. I'm talking about health issues. I'm talking about different things that you are working through with your family. Maybe some of you are realizing, how am I going to take care of my parents?

They've taken care of me, but they're getting older, and how am I going to work through that? Or how am I going to, you know, my kids. And I want them to, like, they're growing up and they're going to get out of the house soon. How am I going to work through that kind of situation? Or some of you are like, I wish my kids would grow up.

They're not. They're killing me right now. You know, like, there's all these different things that are going through your mind right now, and they're all taking energy, they're all taking from you, all of these things that you would love to have. And so when I say something like, God has given you rest, you're like, well, it just doesn't feel like that's true. Doesn't feel like it's true in my high school.

Doesn't feel like it's true where I go to work. But just because you don't feel something, doesn't make it true, because feelings can lie to you. And a lot of times feelings fight faith. And a lot of times feelings try to get on top of what the Bible actually says. And the Bible says that God has given us rest.

And I know we're starting this summer in the Psalms. I want to start this in Psalm 23. A lot of us have heard this scripture before. Psalm 23, verse 1. It says, the Lord, my shepherd, I have all that I need.

The Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. So that means if God is your God, you have everything you need. Did you know? You woke up this morning, you have everything you need?

Come on, y'. All. Hey, you got everything you need? You have everything. Why?

Because you're like, please look at my bank account. It does not look like I have everything I need. No, no, no. When you put God in the forefront of your life, when you put God in the driver's seat, when you say God, you lead me. God, you guide me.

God, you're the shepherd. God, you're the one who calls the shots. God, you're the one that I'm following. I'm not following my own desires. I'm not following my own wisdom.

I'm not following the things that I think I need to do. I'm actually following you. You say step right, I step right. You say step left. I say step left.

You say stop, I stop. You say go, I go. And in that moment, then I have everything I need. Is it all worked out right now? No.

It's just in your hands. And when something's in his hands, it's okay. I'm okay. I understand that. God's got my whole world wrapped up in his hands.

And if his hands form the world, his hands can run my life. If his hands did all the different things where I can't see, I'm okay with my life being in his hands. And now when I walk into a hospital room, I walk in with faith in the Son of God. When I walk into my school, I walk with faith in the Son of God. When I walk into my job, I walk in not in a deficit, but I walk with the God of the heavenly armies that surrounded me.

And I don't have to worry, and I have to stress, and I don't have to be eaten up by anxiety because God is my shepherd and I have everything that I need. And all of a sudden, now I feel more full than I've ever felt before. And it's not because of my circumstance. It's because of the God I serve. And I'm not going to let circumstance dictate my faith.

I'm not going to let what I see dictate my faith. What I don't see is what I have faith in. And so I'm going to look to the God that is the God that is my shepherd. Look what it says. It says, he lets me rest in green meadows.

He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right path. He guides. If you're gonna be guided, you got to be close, right?

Right. If any of you have ever had a guide before, you don't have. You don't pay somebody to guide you and stay five miles behind them. If they're a guide, you're right behind them. You're like, I'm paying you money.

You put me on the right path and I'm going to stay close. Well, God, I'm going to stay close to you because you're my guide. You're my shepherd. And he guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. So you understand the closer you are to God, the closer you are to rest, the further you are in isolation actually affects your rest.

I would say it like this. Your restlessness is wrapped up in your aloneness. When you try to do life on your own, all of a sudden your energy goes down really quick. When you try to do things by yourself, that's where you feel like, I don't have any energy left. I would say it this way.

The further you get from worship, the closer you get to weary.

So the moment you come in here and we lift up the name of God is the moment that you start recharging yourself. The moment rest from heaven starts entering your life. That's the moment. Some of us are way better at recharging our cell phones than recharging our soul.

Some of you, last night, you plugged in your phone. You're like, I can't be empty. I mean, what a right. How many of you would be worried if you woke up in the morning and it was that empty and you had to go somewhere? You're like, what do I need to do?

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I need somebody. Does anybody have a battery? You'd be freaking out.

I wish somebody would freak out about their soul like they freaked out about their cell phone. Oh, I'm empty. I feel like I can't move. Oh, God. I gotta.

I gotta get in front of my Bible. I gotta pray. I gotta worship. I gotta. What's wrong with you?

I'm empty. Shut up. I gotta worship, right? What's going on right now? I gotta read my Bible.

I got. I have to because I'm empty. I need the rest that only God can give me and so I'm understanding that he's my shepherd. And then I. Because we don't act right when we're empty, right?

You ever seen on your phone, low power mode, you know, they're like, we're gonna shut down most of the stuff so you can just limp through.

Do you know how many Christians are on low power mode?

They can't do the things that God has asked them to do because they are on low power mode and they're like, oh my God, I can get text messages and that's it.

And God's asking you to be a hotspot. You're like, I got no energy for that. I want you to serve at XR church. I don't got energy for that. Oh, everybody get quiet on that one.

Come on, baby, we're family, let's go. I understand low power mode. We all got it, we all fight it. But God's asking you to plant. God's asking you to be here.

God's asking you not just to be a seat, but actually be a contributor, not a consumer. God's asking you to be somebody that he actually has made you to be. And the only way that you can get there is to get out of low power mode and to get in front of God and say, God, fill me up with juice, baby. I need everything that you've got for me. God, I need.

I don't need just a little bit. I need a full charge. I just, just don't need 10, 20% to let me limp by. I need full charge from you and God. When you give me that, then now I can walk out and be the person that God has called me to be.

Now I can serve. Now I can give. Now I can invite somebody to church. Because I feel like I'm running on something that doesn't ever get me empty. I feel like I'm running on heaven's energy.

I feel like I got something that might. Man, wow. How can I get all of these things done at the same? Because God is giving me energy. God's given me rest.

This isn't rest I earned. This isn't rest that I bought. This is rest that came from heaven. This is rest where I'm getting my face in front of Jesus. And all of a sudden now God is filling me up where I feel overflowing.

I feel like, man, I got so. In fact, we understand this so well when we read this scripture. Look at this Matthew, chapter 11, verse 28. Then Jesus said, come to me, all of you who are weary. Kevin, Carry heavy Burdens.

What heavy burden are you carrying this morning?

Financial.

Maybe it's a conversation you had.

It was last night. You felt like, I don't know how to fix that relationship.

Maybe it's a health burden that you haven't shared with anybody yet, but it's eating you up inside. Maybe it's worrying about your future and you're like, I just, what am I going to do? How am I going to fix it? Maybe it's pastime. Maybe it's some abuse that happened in your past.

And you carry it not as a scar, but an open wound. And anytime anybody gets close to you, you feel like they're going to hit, they're going to hit that. And so you back away. And you back away from every relationship and you back away from every person because you're bleeding and you're hurt and it's painful, but it's a burden you carry. And you carry it into church week after week after week.

And some of you have been blaming yourself for the abuse of somebody else and thinking it was your fault now. And so I don't have the ability to get back into a relationship.

Some of you have had some bitterness from some things that happened in your life and you've kept that and you pull that into every situation, whether it be a job, whether it be a church, whether it be a relationship with family or friends.

And you have that burden. And it's a 10 ton rock on your back and it's hard for you to lift your hands and worship because you're carrying something.

And Jesus looks at you and says, you really need to fix that burden.

No. What does he say? Come to me. Aren't you so glad that Jesus doesn't judge our burdens, doesn't judge our junk? Says, come here, come on, come on with you.

I know it's heavy. I know it's hurting. You just had this picture. I feel like God just gave me this picture. Some of you, you're walking with a limp because the burden's so strong, so heavy, you can't even walk right because you're carrying something you were never meant to carry.

And God said, come to me all you who are weary, heavy laden.

And I'll give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you.

Sometimes we miss that, right? Can we let Jesus teach us instead of us teach him? God, let me show you how you should run the world.

I'm going to come to you teachable.

Can I just tell you? One of the secrets of life is to be able to Be teachable.

Just say, hey, show me what? I don't know. Show me what? I don't. I got an eight year old.

He acts like he's Albert Einstein. And there are things that he says to me, oh, dad already knew that. I was like, no, you didn't. And you still don't know. Dad, I know.

I mean, he just wants to show me how much he knows. You know what would really impress me if he said, dad, I don't know. Can you show me? That would impress me also. Knock me down.

I'd be like, where's Watson? What happened?

I wonder if God's thinking the same thing. Could you come to me and just say, God, show me what? I don't know.

Just open up my eyes. There's stuff that I just don't know. He said, teach me. He said, let me teach you because I'm humble. I love this.

He says, let me teach you. But then he says, I'm humble and gentle at heart. I'm thinking I need to be humble and gentle at heart. But Jesus always teaches us by example first. So he says, let me teach you because I'm humble and I'm gentle at heart.

And you'll find what? Come on, you'll find rest. Find rest for your souls, not rest for, oh, I need eight hours. No rest for your soul. Because I'm telling you right now, there's not enough sleep on this planet.

That'll make your soul rest filled.

You go all the sleep doctors you want, get the Darth Vader mask, do all the, whatever just pill prescription. I'm gonna, you know, do the. I don't know, all the. I mean, they got 18,000 things you can do to have better sleep. It's not gonna fix your soul.

And we keep trying to fight for rest for our bodies when we should be putting ourselves in front of Jesus for rest for our souls.

For my yoke is easy to bear and my burden I give you is light.

And that's how we find true rest.

And it's important, it's so important to realize this and honestly to understand that there's parts of us that we don't know what we're doing in life right now because we're acting out in places and trying to be somebody that we shouldn't even be. Way back in the day, there's this sci fi show called Star Trek and. Yeah, okay, no one knows that because this is the younger time so that I starve. What? Yeah, don't even.

You can. You can ask Chatgpt and So there's this guy named Captain Kirk. He's. William Shatner is his name. But he was known.

He was known as an overactor, super dramatic. Every line he was like, you know, like just an easy line, like, I need to go to the bathroom. He was like, I need to go to the bathroom. Every line he would say like this. Like, they could not get movies or the show done because he was overacting all the time.

So they asked the director, how'd you work with William Shatner? So it was easy. So I just let him. I'd let him preach or let him preach. Yeah, I would let him do his lines 15 times.

By the 15th time, he was getting so tired that he finally said it the right ways. So then we used the 15th take and we made a movie. And I was thinking about this, and I was thinking, you know what? God will let you get tired.

God will let you get tired until finally you realize, oh, I don't have to overact anymore. I just need to come to him. He will let you get tired until you realize that actually being weary, being tired, being on low power, actually is good for me because it shows me that I need to get filled. Come on. The warning light in your gas tank is not just for you to play chicken.

It's there to show you, I gotta get to the gas tank at some point. Some of you are like, you get an adrenaline rush for seeing how long you can go. You're like, let's do it again. You know? Yeah.

I'm not driving with you freaking daredevils.

Listen, it's a blessing because your gas tank shows you. I gotta fill up. When your soul is weary, it's a blessing. It shows you. I gotta fill up.

I gotta get in front of Jesus. I don't need more time with Netflix. I don't need to doom scroll on Instagram. I don't need to sit here and go through all of this stuff. That's not gonna fill my sou.

Just gonna get me more tired. What I really need to do is get in front of Jesus. There are too many things that we are trying to fill our soul with and thinking that it's gonna get us rest. Oh, I just need another vacation. Oh, if I just had a better car.

Oh, if I just had a better job, with more work, life, balance. If I just had this, if I just had some more time off, if I just had this, if my teacher wouldn't put all of this stuff on me, if I could just have this and this and this, then I'll be. But we get down to the end of it, and every time we do it and. And every time we watch Netflix for five hours and feel like we're going to sport now, I'm going to be more energized. We're actually lower on energy than we were before.

Why? Because our soul can only get filled with what God can give us. And it only works when you put yourself in front of Jesus. It's like putting soap in a gas tank. It's not going to get you very far.

And after a while it'll break your car. And so many of us think, well, I'll just spill up over here. No, it doesn't work. Is God and God alone and he fills your soul and he gives you rest.

Isaiah, chapter 40 says it like this. Why would you ever complain, O Jacob? Or why in Israel saying, God has lost track of me? He doesn't care what happens to me. Don't you know anything?

Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's creator of all you can see. Come on, Church.

He's the creator of all we see and imagine. He doesn't get tired out. He doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything inside and out. He energizes.

Come on. He energizes those who get tired. Gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out. Young folk in their prime stumble and fall.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and they soar like eagles. They run. They don't get tired. They walk and they don't lag behind.

This is the God we serve. When you wait on God, you get strength. When you put yourself in front of Jesus, you get strength. When you come to church and you worship, you get strength. When you read your Bible, you get strength.

It's not just reading something that was written over 2,000 years ago. It's something that's given me energy inside of my soul. Because it's the word of God that cuts through every. Every other lie of the enemy. And I'm starting to get strength again.

I'm starting to feel fired up again. Not because I'm doing anything perfect. It's because I'm in front of God and I'm in front of Jesus and he's given me energy and power that I need to do the things that God has called me to do. I feel something that is heaven sent in my soul, not something that I'm trying to make up. It's actually something that only God could do.

I love this. It says, those who wait on God get fresh strength.

And it doesn't say, those who wait on God get fresh strength so they can chill on the beach and get a sunburn. I say that because I always get sunburned. I don't tan like my wife. She tans. She look great.

I mean, she'll put on sunscreen to get tan. I don't have that. I go out, I put on sunscreen. 50, I turn out like Bob the Tomato. I'm just red.

But we think about, oh, I just need some rest. I just need some beach time. Just need chill. No, no. God said, I'm giving you rest.

I'm giving you rest so you can run.

Some of you are like, what? Yeah. No, I'm not lying. It said this. Those who wait on God get fresh strength, spread their wings, soar like eagles, not going to turn into birds.

It says, like eagles so you don't literally, okay. They run and don't get tired. God has given you rest for a purpose. They run and they don't get tired. They walk.

Don't lag behind. Don't wait on the Lord. It's not wait to do nothing. It's wait so you can run. Don't miss the why.

For your rest. Don't miss it. Look at this. Go back to Joshua where we started. Joshua, chapter one, verse 14.

Your wives, children and livestock may remain here in the land Moses assigned to you on the east side of the Jordan River. But your strong warriors, fully armed, must lead the other tribes across the Jordan to help them conquer their territory. See this? Stay with them until the Lord gives them.

Come on. Until the Lord gives him what?

Them. Rest as he has given you rest. So there's a you and there's a them. And God wants to give both of them rest. God wants to give you rest so you can give them rest.

Come on, Church. This is not just. It just didn't happen. It's happening. And so he says, stay with them until the Lord gives them rest, as he has given you rest and until they, too, possess the land your God is giving them.

Only then may they return and settle here on the east side of the Jordan river in the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, assigned to you. Crossroad Church. I want to remind us all this morning that your rest is for the rest of them. Your rest is for the rest of them. There are people right now that cannot speak up for themselves.

There are people right now. Their marriages are breaking. Right now. There are people right now that are falling into depression. There are people right now that don't know which way to turn because anxiety is ruling their life.

And they need somebody to reach out for them. They need somebody to say, hey, I'm here. I can help. And I'm telling you that somebody is Crossroads Church, and God has called this church to have rest for the rest of them. There are people right now that you got to stay with and help and see that God has actually called you.

I love what Proverbs actually says. In Proverbs, chapter 31, it says this 31:8. Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Ensure justice for those being crushed. This is why we give.

This is why we serve. This is why we planted. It's not just for our rest. It's for the rest of them. This is why we give the convoy of hope.

This is why we have an absolute vision for other people. Because there is a church right here in West Virginia that's going to be a light in a dark place, that's going to be someplace that people come from all over and say, this is where God changed my life. This is where God saved me from myself. Stand to our feet. I want to tell this one story.

And then we're going to worship together. There's a church that had a dream that wanted to move into the middle of the city.

They needed a building to do that, and it seemed like a huge God dream that they could not do on their own.

And at some points, it felt like that dream would never materialize. I don't know if you've ever felt like that you had a dream that feels like it's never going to happen. This church felt like God given us this dream, but we don't know how we're ever going to move, how we're ever going to be that church in that part of town. But then stuff started to shift. Things started to change, and God opened up a way for them to move in a building for them to purchase.

But financially, there was just no way that they could do that at this time. And I'm telling you, at this moment, this church felt like, wow, God, you've given us so much, but how can we make move forward? How can we do this? And I want to tell you, at that exact time, another church called and said, hey, we want to be the church that steps in the gap, and we want to give our first seed into this mission, and we're going to give $20,000 to see you move. Awesome story.

Let Me tell you, the church that gave $20,000, Crossroads Church, was that church, the church that needed to move into that building. That's my church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that you get. I am living proof that God works miracles. When people say, hey, our rest is for the rest of them. Our giving is for the rest of them.

There are times where you've been tithing. There's times where you've been giving. But you've been giving to somebody in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that you've never seen before. You've been given to some marriages that you'll never see before. You've been given to lies that you'll never know their name, but heaven knows their name.

And they've been saved by the grace of God because a church in West West Virginia decided, our rest is for the rest of them. We're here for the rest of them. God put us wherever we need to be. God help us be a light in a dark place.

And all of a sudden, lives are changed all over the world. Why? Because our rest is for the rest of them. And so that's why it's so. It is so important.

It's vital that we put ourselves in front of Jesus and let him fill us with heavenly rest, energy and passion. So, all over this room, I want us to lift up our hands to God. If you feel comfortable with that, come on all over this room and let's put ourselves right in front of Jesus. Come on, church. Let's worship.

Come on, church.

Let the power and the rest and the energy of the Holy Spirit fill you at this moment. Come on.

Courage to trust him more. Jesus.

Come on, church.

Jesus.

Come on. Let's sing it one more time with all your heart. Come on, sir. Jesus.