Rest Like Jesus

That was Brandon and Elise.

They have a really beautiful God story.

You can check it out on our website or on our mobile app.

It's just a story about them, they had a dream, and they gave that dream to God, and he changed it and made it even better.

And so I encourage you to listen to that when you get a chance.

So we have been in a series for the last three weeks called Like Jesus.

And it's basically the concept of we look at Jesus' life, and if we were to live a life like Jesus, then we're going to experience the power of Jesus.

And it is real.

And Ken has done such a beautiful job of taking us through some of the ways that Jesus lived.

And if you haven't had a chance to listen to those messages, I encourage you to do that as well.

We talked about what it looks like to pray like Jesus, to think like Jesus, and to live like Jesus.

And today we're wrapping it up.

And there are so many different areas of Jesus' life that we could look at.

We could look at how what it looks like to forgive like Jesus and to pray, I mean, to serve like Jesus and to love like Jesus.

And the list could go on, and we could be here every Sunday for the rest of the year just looking at how Jesus lived.

And we wouldn't run out of things to talk about.

But there is one area that I just know in my own life is a real struggle for me.

And we don't really talk about it very much.

And it's because we live in a world that tells us the opposite.

And that is that we need to rest like Jesus.

Rest.

Like real rest.

Not just in our physical, although, yes, that, not just in our mind, although, yes, that, but like in our souls.

We need the rest.

I need the rest.

Now I don't know what you think of when you think of rest, but for me, the word rest is like, it's a beautiful word.

I just want to be like, ah, rest.

Because I have three little children, and uh the youngest one just started walking.

And so, um, and I'm 10 years older than I was when we had the first one.

So that's the thing.

I mean, it's it's a lot harder this time around than it was with the baby or with my oldest when she was a baby.

And um, I don't know where your mind goes right now where you need rest the most.

And we all have different personalities, we're all in different seasons of life.

My season of life is just young children.

My husband and I are busy with work, we're moving, which only six miles down the road from where we live now, but may as well be across the country, okay, because it requires the same amount of work, and and so there's a lot going on.

And so I don't know what you picture for for rest, but here's what I picture, and I'm gonna close my eyes because I really I really do want to picture it.

Thank you very much.

Okay.

When I think of rest, I think of myself in the middle of a secluded island in the tropics, and I am on a reclining chair that is very cushiony, and my feet are in the sand, and the sun is is is on me, but it's not too hot, and then every now and then there's this cool breeze, and the water comes rushing in and it goes back out into the ocean, and it's so peaceful.

And I look over to my right, and there's my husband tab, and we are having a conversation and not being interrupted.

And I'm able to have a thought and see it all the way through without being distracted, and all of my worries and all of my concerns are somewhere else, but they are not there.

And then I open my eyes, realize, oh, that was just a dream.

Because the honest truth is, is it's actually I am really good.

I am really good at feeling rest when the waters are completely still.

Because if I'm being honest with you, when the waters are not still, I get weary really fast.

And I know like your pastor shouldn't be standing up here telling you that, or maybe that's okay that I am, but the truth is it's true.

It's true.

I'm fine when things are okay and smooth, even a little bit of choppiness.

But when it starts to get out of my control, I get weary, and weariness is no good place to be.

It's a place where we start to question God.

It's a place where we lose hope, it's where we get discouraged, it's where we become frustrated and frustrating.

It's where we are tired and exhausted, and that not just physically, but inside.

Like we can't get rest.

I'll tell you, I don't even know what rest is anymore.

When I prayed about this message, like get rest, like I always pray and I say, God, what do you what do people need to hear?

And when he told me to rest, I'm like, no, no, you didn't hear me.

I didn't say what do I need to hear?

Because it's a lot easier to stand up here and teach you something that I might know one or two things about, but I'm telling you, I don't even know.

And I have been seeking him hard these last few weeks, wholeheartedly, every single day, all the time.

That's all I'm thinking about is what is it about rest that that we, that me, that I, that we need to hear today.

And here's what I can tell you is he doesn't want us walking around weary.

This is what Jesus says in Matthew 11, verse 28.

Matthew 11:28

Jesus says, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

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

A yoke is just a wooden contraption uh in farming terms that would go over the shoulders of two large animals that would be plowing a field.

And they would plow a straight line because they had equal amount of strength, and they were yoked together.

And what Jesus is telling us here is so beautiful because he's saying, Hey, listen, you here, take my yoke and wear it with me, but I'm gonna be the one who carries all the weight.

And you just lean into me and let me lead you, and I will take you down the right path.

That's what he's saying here, and I love the way the message says it too.

Jesus says, 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.

And I I love that because I want a real rest.

Like a real sustaining rest.

I want to live a life that is unforced, that has rhythms of grace.

Isn't that beautiful?

I want to live freely and lightly.

And guess what?

Jesus is saying we're supposed to live that way.

When I think of that picture in my mind on that beach front, even though I know that I can't physically be there, I do believe that God wants, and He died for us to be able to experience that peace inside of us no matter what is going on.

I want that.

See, here's the truth is I am I'm really good at trusting God with like the super duper big things in my life.

I I haven't always been that way, but I am there now.

I'm good at the super duper big things.

Here, God, here's my marriage, my husband's health, my children's health, my health.

Here are our finances.

I trust you, here are my children, I trust you.

I trust them with those big things, and I thought I was doing pretty well.

But what I'm realizing is that I have great anxiety in the day-to-days, in the daily tasks.

I have great anxiety, and I've been actually the prayer team has been praying over me and with me through this.

And I have been going to a counselor, Lori Torelli, she's awesome, and and and I've been meeting with her about this because I realize I can't control the health and the well-being of my family.

I have no control over those big things, but in my mind I think, oh no, but I can control my day-to-day.

Because I'm together, I'm Elon.

I can do this, I'm strong.

Well, what's really interesting, and and this is where this kind of goes, not as I planned.

So bear with me, please.

One of the areas in my life where I am at the most desire to control is actually this right here is messages.

And if you've been here for long, you've probably seen me kind of slowly surrender and let go.

And I'm becoming more and more myself, and that is awesome, like to God, because um it's still really uncomfortable, but he's showing me that he's here with me and that we're a family, and it's really awesome.

But it still remains to be something that is a struggle for me because of the right reasons.

I want to I want to serve well, I want to do this well, I want to bring clarity, I don't want anybody to walk away here confused.

And yesterday happened, and it was crazy because I had a message written, and I thought it was pretty good, but there was something missing, and honestly, when I was running through it, I was confused.

And if I'm confused, you're gonna be confused.

And I knew it wasn't the right one.

So I told Tab, actually, yesterday morning we woke up and I was supposed to come up here to help with the service, the volunteer day.

And I called or texted Justin and Sheila, who was in charge of it, and I said, Hey, listen, I I need to work on the message.

I have got a lot of work to do.

And would you mind if I didn't come?

And they're like, Absolutely, stay home and work on the message.

So then I came to my husband and I said, Listen, will you take the girls and just go somewhere?

And just, I need, I need to work on this message all day long.

He said, Absolutely, sure, no problem.

So this was early in the morning, and I locked myself in my bedroom, and I did not come out except to eat dinner last night and to bathe my children and put them into bed.

That was it.

And it's interesting because the message was rewritten four times before I went to bed.

And messages take hours to write because it's important.

It's important, and I want to hear from God before I even try to have you hear from me.

And I couldn't get it.

I couldn't get it.

I kept praying to him.

And at first I was calm.

I was like, okay, I got time.

It's only 10 o'clock in the morning.

I've got time, Lord.

I know you're gonna talk to me because I have been seeking him wholeheartedly through this whole thing.

And I knew that.

I knew that.

So I just said, it's okay, it's gonna be fine.

But as the hours started to tick closer and closer to this morning, I became became such unrest.

It just started to unfold throughout the day.

Messy.

I'm just telling you, messy.

First, I'm sitting on my bed and I'm typing on my computer.

I'm trying everything I can, I'm opening up my Bible and I'm asking him questions.

And then I go up to our uh the tall, the tall mirror in our bedroom, and I take a marker out and I start writing all over it because I'm like, no, that was not the right message.

Let me write it out this way.

And I'm looking at it, and it is not the right message.

Then I go into my closet, shut the door, and turn off the light, and I get on my face and I say, Lord, now is the time.

I need to hear from you.

I need to hear from you.

I know that you're here.

You you I know you're here, you say you're here, but I really need to hear from you because these people are important.

And I need to know what I'm supposed to say.

The day continues to go, and my unrest gets more and more intense.

My kids felt it too.

I mean, they would come up to the door to come check on me, and I'd hear Tab yelling downstairs, don't bother, mommy! At the end of the night, um, I went to put the girls to bed and I went back into my room, shut the door.

Tab was sweet, he left, he stayed downstairs like really late to just give me as much time as possible.

And the girls had gone to bed, and they knew that I was, I just asked all day, please pray for me, please pray for me.

And uh about probably 8:30 or so, I hear a little slip of paper come underneath my door.

Okay, and so my daughter, Rachel, um, she drew this, it has rainbows on it.

I love little girls, and she wrote me a letter, and this is what it says.

Dear Elan, I love you so much.

You are the best mom in the whole wide world.

You helped me through tough times and through the good.

You are the best.

You're going to be amazing tomorrow.

And if you get nervous, just pray, because I know Jesus will help you.

Good luck.

You'll need it.

Now let me just say, real quick, because I know she's in here, Rachel, they're laughing because you're adorable, and I'll explain later.

I don't want her to think that we're laughing at her, but kids are so funny.

And I I did actually have the sense of humor in that moment to laugh.

I I did laugh, and then I was like, okay, back to business, God.

Okay.

So so now so now I am I'm kind of becoming undone, if I can tell you the truth.

And it was 10:30.

Nothing.

Nothing.

And I go downstairs to my husband, and I'm I am shaking.

And I say, I tab, I don't even understand what's happening.

I don't understand what's happening.

How many times have I done this?

I have prepared, I have studied, I have prayed.

I don't understand what God is doing.

He says that he's here, but I am not hearing from him, and I don't know what to do.

People are showing up tomorrow, and I can't let them down.

What am I going to do?

I need him to show up now.

So he asks me, Well, what were you planning on talking about?

And I tell him, and I'm like, oh, well, I was talking about, you know, Jesus rested physically, you know, and Jesus rested mentally, and he rested spiritually, which spells PMS.

And if you do not rest, that is what will happen.

Okay, well, you gave me a better response than 9:30.

I kind of shared with him, and he was confused.

And I was annoyed, because I'm like, why are you so confused?

What's so confusing about that?

It was confusing.

It was confusing, and God is not a God of confusion, by the way.

He is not a God of confusion.

The enemy was messing with me something fierce.

So Tab, in his wonderful way and patient way, was like, Well, what were you, what were some of the verses you were going to talk about?

So I kind of took him through some of them, and then we rested on one of them.

And he goes, Why don't you spend time on that?

So I said, All right.

And I went back upstairs and I shut the door.

And here's where here's where God brought me.

Mark 4, verse 35.

Mark 4:35

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, Let's cross to the other side of the lake.

So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind, although other boats followed.

But soon a fierce storm came up, high waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.

The disciples woke him up, shouting, Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Silence, be still.

Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great calm.

Then he asked them, Why are you afraid?

Why do you have no faith?

So I read this and I thought, oh yeah.

I want to be able to rest like that.

There they are in the middle of a storm.

And Jesus was not only asleep, he is sound asleep, laying his head on a cushion.

How cozy and comfy is that?

And the storm was not what woke him up.

He was sound asleep.

The boat was going down, like water was coming in, didn't wake up Jesus.

The only thing that woke up Jesus were the people waking him up.

Can you imagine having that kind of peace, that kind of rest in your spirit, that no matter what is going on around you, no matter what, you're at peace?

That is what I want.

And I read it and I wasn't feeling it because I wasn't, I couldn't hear what he wanted me to use with it.

What do you want me?

I've been reading this all day, I don't understand.

And I sat there in my bed and I'm telling you, I must have read it 25 or 30 times, and maybe more.

Over and over and over again.

And with every time I read it, I got angrier and angrier.

Why aren't you speaking to me, God?

Over and over and over and over and over again.

And I kept getting these little text messages from Tab.

You need to rest.

It's 11 o'clock.

And I would send back little hearts because I was trying to say I love you, leave me alone.

And he would keep checking on me.

How's it going?

Heart.

It's midnight.

Heart.

They make other emoticons too, you know.

Um, so I am sitting there in my bed, and I have now become desperate.

It is now 12:30 at night, the night before I'm coming in here.

And every single good plan that I had couldn't be used.

It just could not be used.

And I was desperate.

And I'm reading this for the 31st time.

And as I start reading, the rain starts outside, and the storm comes.

And I am not making this up.

And I am reading, as evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, Let's cross to the other side of the lake.

So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind, although other boats followed.

But soon a fierce storm came up.

High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

And Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.

The disciples woke up shouting, Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?

And I'm saying it like this because that was me.

Okay, Jesus, you tell me to seek you with all my heart, with all my mind and my soul.

And I am, and where are you?

Where are you?

You say that you've gone before me and you're with me, but I don't feel you.

Why are you asleep?

There is a storm literally taking out place outside.

Why are you asleep?

Wake up and do something.

I am about to drown here.

Just then my husband comes into the room and I see him and I just start to cry.

Tab, I don't understand.

I have been faithful.

I'm sorry.

I have prayed and I have prayed for you and I have prayed for me.

I have prayed for us.

I have prayed for God to speak to us.

And I want him to use me.

But I didn't know what I was supposed to say.

And Tab says, Elon, you have got to rest.

And I looked at him and I was convicted, and I said, I can't rest.

I can't rest.

I have to write the message.

And then he gave me a kiss and he left the room.

And I looked back and I read the next words.

Because when I said I have to write the message, something happened in my heart.

And it was God getting my attention.

And I read verse 39.

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Silence, be still.

Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great calm.

The silence be still for me.

Was God gently and patiently waiting for me all day long to make me realize that this message has nothing to do with me.

It has nothing.

It is not held together by me.

It is not created by me.

And I'd like to say it's not even fully delivered by me.

And the fact that I would hold on so tightly to try to control that takes him out of every bit of it.

And then I read the next line.

He said, then he asked them, Why are you afraid?

Why are you afraid?

He was talking to me.

And so I answered him, and I was very honest, and I'm going to be honest with you.

He said, Elon, why are you so afraid?

What are you so afraid of?

I said, Okay.

I'm afraid of being embarrassed.

I'm afraid of standing up there and not knowing what I'm saying and confusing people.

I am afraid of the people that I vision in my face that I love so much that I want to serve so well.

I'm afraid of them walking away disappointed.

I'm afraid Justin's gonna be disappointed.

I am afraid that I'm gonna get up there and just stand there and not have anything to say.

And then he said, Do you still have no faith?

Tab and I told you we're moving.

And this has been one of the most real life God walking us through and showing himself to us experiences that we've ever experienced as a married couple.

And it's not that uh moving is some like, oh my gosh, earth-shattering thing, but it's important to us.

And it's important that we go where God wants us to go.

And and if it's important to us, you better believe it's important to God.

And so we have been seeking him and praying.

And and honestly, it's crazy the things.

I'm not gonna bore you with all the details, but here are just some of them.

When God put it on our hearts that we were supposed to move, we were kind of like, God, if you want us to do this, because we've had so many changes this last year, if you want us to do this, you're gonna have to, you're gonna actually have to.

Do it because we just have too much going on.

And all of a sudden we get a flyer in our mailbox.

We've lived there for 15 years and never got a flyer in our mailbox from someone who lived in the neighborhood who was renting and said, We really want to buy a house here.

If you're interested, give me a call.

So I did.

Nothing to lose.

Two months later, he has a contract on our house.

Well, then we had no place to live.

And actually, Tubb and I never shared it with each other until a little bit later that there was a house that we had really both loved.

He actually grew up right next door to the house and has admired that house his entire life.

And I have always loved the house since I've been a part of the family.

And we never talked about it.

We just never did.

And the house, there's no chance that this house would be available.

Somebody was living there at the time.

But we were praying that God would give us no choices.

He would direct us exactly where he wanted us to go.

And all of a sudden, I find out that our real estate agent is now that person's real estate agent, and they have now had to move to Portland, Oregon, and need someone to buy the house now.

Now, it's a little bit more expensive than the house that we're in right now on our monthly mortgage, and we wanted to make the right decision.

So we prayed, God, if this is what you want us to do, we we can make it work, but we really don't want to stretch our family.

We want to live within our means, so you're gonna have to show us.

My husband gets a call, not just a couple days later, from his work saying, we want to give you a bonus, an increase.

It is exactly the amount more of mortgage that we need.

Do you still have no faith, Elon?

This is happening in real time, right now, right here, you and me.

We don't even move for another month.

We're closing on that house.

This is happening now.

And God was telling me last night, Elon, you don't have to look but to today of how faithful I have been.

Do you still have no faith?

Jesus could rest in that storm, truly rest on a cushion, sound asleep, in the middle of it.

Because he had full, complete surrender and trust in God.

He didn't pick and choose, he gave everything to Jesus or to God himself.

He gave everything to him.

And I knew that he was trying to tell me something about today.

So I decided it was time to go to bed.

And I went and I brushed my teeth, and I have a little whiteboard by my by my sink.

I put stuff on there, and and it said, When I am weak, I am strong.

And I don't like that verse very much because we're supposed to celebrate our weakness.

We're supposed to celebrate our weakness because it's a beautiful thing.

So I said, Okay, fine, thank you.

Thank you, God.

Thank you for reminding me that I am weak, that this is not about me.

I mean, it's about me and him.

But this is not about me.

Thank you.

Thank you that I'm weak.

So I brushed my teeth and I got into bed.

My mother-in-law years ago encouraged me to memorize Psalm 23, and that whenever I felt anxiety, that I should just recite it, and I did.

I want to share it with you.

Psalm 23 says, The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell rest in the house of the Lord forever.

And I fell asleep.

And at 4:30 this morning, my eyes popped open and my heart was like about to burst through my chest.

It was pounding immediately because I realized here we are.

And I knew what I had to do.

And I said, God, I don't know what it is you want me to share.

But if I stand up there in the middle of the stage and all I say over and over again is, Jesus is amazing, Jesus loves you, Jesus is our Savior, then I'll do it.

And if that's all I say, I don't want to only say that.

Please give me something more, okay?

But if that's all that I say, I am not gonna not show up.

So you just have to show up with me and tell me what you want me to say.

So I go downstairs to pray for you and to pray for me.

And in that moment, I get a text message from my my morning friend.

We get up really early, and sometimes we think of each other and text each other, and her name is Kim Scoris.

You probably know her if you've been here for very long.

She's lovely.

And she writes me and says, When I woke up and was pouring my coffee, God said to me, Text Elon and tell her, free flowing Elan.

I guess God wants you to know to be free-flowing today.

I am praying for his spirit just to pour out of you and for you to know that the Holy Spirit is the mighty translator.

This is Palm Sunday.

It's the day that Jesus rode into his last week of life.

He knew he was about to face betrayal and the most brutal death ever.

He knew what was in front of him.

And I picture him riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.

And that is such that is a person at rest.

Just mosing through on a donkey.

And Holy Week, which is what we're entering, is a time for us to focus on what Jesus did, to focus on who he was, to focus on who he is, to focus on what he has done, and to focus on what he can do and what he wants to do.

And all he is asking from you and from me is to let go and trust him with everything.

And to just keep walking and to keep saying, I'm gonna show up.

And I'm gonna trust you're gonna show up.

And if I have to stand up here and embarrass myself, okay.

Because I don't want to live my life in a safe way.

I don't want to get up here and be speaker Elon.

Nobody needs that.

I want to be who God created me to be and give the message that He tells me to share.

And what I realized is the reason I wasn't hearing from Him is because I was trying to do it on my own.

So I don't know where you are or what's going through your minds and hearts right now.

But I am just trusting Jesus to divide this message up and to continue talking to us and telling us what we need to hear.

I don't know what that is.

But I know that we're supposed to be at rest.

I know that that picture on the middle of that tropical island is supposed to be where we live in our hearts, no matter what's going on around us.

I know that Jesus didn't just leave us that example for us to read it and not take anything from it.

And if nothing else, I hope my prayer today is that you would walk away seeing what it looks like to interact with God's word.

Don't give up.

If you are one who you're trying to hear from him, read it 25, 35, 45 times.

I don't care, don't give up.

Don't give up.

He will speak to you.

God's word is powerful.

It is living and active.

It is sharper than any double-edged sword.

It is sharper than any double-edged sword.

It is the only piece of our armor as believers that is a weapon and it is powerful.

So don't give up.

Ask him, what are you trying to tell me here?

Get frustrated.

It's okay, he can handle it.

I'm still standing.

But don't stop because he wants to tell you something too.

And my prayer for you and for me this week is that you and I will hear him this week, this last week that he gave it all for us, the passion of the Christ.

That we would have that same passion back for him is like, wow, what he could do with that.

Thank you for being a safe place for me to share and for loving me.

I love you.

This is my family, and I am just really, really super excited that I am still standing here alive, and that we are in this together.

So let's pray.

Jesus, you are quite something.

You never fall asleep on us.

You model for us what it looks like to have rest in our souls, but you never fall asleep on us.

You are in the storm with us.

And if we would just simply look to the front of the boat and listen to you tell us to do it as you do it, then we can nestle up next to you and fall asleep with you and trust that you've got it.

You've got it.

And we do believe that today.

Help us to live that out.

Lord, thank you for coming.

Thank you for dying for us.

Thank you for leaving us with your Holy Spirit so that we can actually hear from you.

Thank you for not giving up on us when we give up on you.

Thank you for your faithfulness, Lord.

And then I just pray, God, that this week that we would have hearts that would just truly surrender to you, that we would trust you, that we would spend every day this week of Holy Week thinking about you, praying to you, listening for you, thanking you, trusting you, surrendering to you, celebrating, celebrating that death did not conquer you and it does not conquer us.

And fear, fear is a lie.

It is a lie, it is a lie like looking in the threshold of a room and all these crazy, nasty monsters that keep us away from the other side.

That this is our dream.

That's where you are, that's where we're supposed to be.

And we stay out so often.

But what you've shown me today, God, is that if I will cross over the threshold of that room, those monsters disappear.

They were never there to really begin with.

They were just meant to keep me away.

Jesus, you are our rest.

You are our Sabbath rest.

And when we fully trust you and believe in you, we are at rest.

Make that real for us this week.

Consume us, Lord, with your peace and your love, and help us.

Help us to live in unforced rhythms of grace.

Yes, Jesus, you are good and you are alive.

And we praise you and we thank you and we believe you and we trust you and we give it to you now.

It's in the strong name of Jesus.

Amen.