Avoiding Burnout

SERMON: 2014-08-31--is4014--avoiding-burnout-part-1 SOURCE DURATION: 00:38:00.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.95 APPROVED: false REASON: Candidate 14 ('much amen') is the final spoken word segment of the sermon's conclusion/benediction. Candidate 15 is marked as [BLANK_AUDIO], indicating a transition to non-sermon material (likely music or an extended pause). ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: none ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: no ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: none Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- The words that we've read together this morning from Isaiah chapter 40 are a study in contrasts are they not. It is a contrast between strength that we have in the natural and strength that comes from God. And again to how the text is worded by Isaiah verses 30 and 31 even youths grow tired in weary and young men stumble and fall but those who hope or as other translations have it wait on the Lord will renew their strength they will soar on wings like eagles they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not be faint a clear contrast there between young men and youths who grow tired and get weary and those who wait upon the Lord and who renew their strength. Now the youths and young men referred to in this particular passage are of course seen as the epitome the high point of human strength and endurance. I read somewhere not very long ago that a human's strength in many areas reaches its high point if you can believe it or not around the age of 24 or 25. After that it plateaus until you're about 40 and after that I'm sad to tell you it is downhill all the way and many of us know that reality don't we especially as you get a little bit older. Now that's not to say here's a very interesting little thing in sports for example many of the championships are not won by the young ones at the epitome of their strength in cycling for example the average age of the Tour de France winners are 28 years of age the reason for that is that even as they have reached the peak of their strength and perhaps they're starting to decline they supplement their strength by the strategy that comes from years of experience and so there is wisdom in getting older and that is small comfort for those of us who feel that we're getting older. But what Isaiah says here then in this passage is that there are times in life when even the strongest and the smartest of us run out of steam and can no longer put one foot in front of the other even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall. Now for Israel one of the times in which that happened was when they were in exile in Babylon if you know the Old Testament history of Israel you will know that when God entered into covenant with Israel in Mount Sinai he said I'm going to give you a land flowing with milk and honey that is your inheritance but if you break covenant with me the land is going to spit you out. You know the history first the 10 tribes broke covenant with God and around 722 BC they were carted off by Assyria into exile most of them never to come back and then about 150 years later in 586 BC the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land and began carting off the Israelites of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin to the Babylonian captivity and there they languished and there they lost hope and there all their dreams came crashing down around them and verse 27 with which we started this passage really captures their despair when it says why do you say oh Jacob and complain of Israel my way is hidden from the Lord my cause is disregarded by my God keep that verse up for just a moment notice their complaint is twofold first of all God isn't paying any attention to us my way is hidden from the Lord he doesn't see me he doesn't know my pain he doesn't understand my suffering the second complaint is that God's not interested in doing anything about it my cause is disregarded by my God and so they languished and they grew weary until even their strongest young men and young women were ready to throw in the towel and say we have no future we have no hope even youths will grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall now it's obvious to those of us who are sitting here in the comfort of this auditorium we have not experienced what they have experienced in terms of exile although I need to point out to you this morning that many people around the world know that reality today I did some research this past week would you believe the number of refugees worldwide today is more than 50 million people can you imagine that kicked out of your home in many instances kicked out of your land in many instances robbed of your 50 million people in Syria alone and you've heard about the war there and the ongoing civil war and now the threat of ISIS and all the other stuff that's going on out of a population of 23 million nine point something million have been displaced many are refugees a lot of them outside of the country the rest displaced in the country about half of those are children can you imagine what that does to each of them there are multitudes around the world who know the reality of God where are you and why is this happening to me now you don't need to be able to identify with being in exile to know that even in our world there are times when we come to the end of our tether when the pressures of life are more than we can handle and as I thought about that a little bit this past week it occurred to me there were at least two situations in our own time where even the strongest of us will sometimes find that we have come to the end of our tether so to speak one is when life is hard because the reality is that no matter how blessed you are and how much one can enjoy life none of us is totally immune to experiencing the difficulties of life sometimes the trouble is financial sometimes the trouble is relational sometimes it's natural disasters sometimes it is issues of health and as Michelle and I were out east visiting family and friends both in PEI and Nova Scotia it occurred to me I was struck by by two areas where where people were experiencing afresh the realities of living in a broken world one was the the number of illnesses in people that I know perhaps it's a function of my getting older being part of an older demographic but becoming aware afresh at how much difficulty there is in the world health wise you know about my brother Gerard also found out afresh that I have a nephew the oldest son of my brother who just celebrated their 50th anniversary who about a year ago was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer he's had all kinds of treatments now none of them have had any effect you'd never know it looking on him but the prospect medically speaking as you can well imagine is not good heard the story too of a man a grandfather went into the hospital in Halifax for open-heart surgery two or three days later his son received word that their young daughter who was turning ill had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of leukemia and so that whole family is now moving to Halifax for the duration of her treatments you can imagine what kind of an upheaval that is in the life of the family and you know none of us is immune to that there are simply those seasons where we go through times when life is hard the other thing that I really was struck by as we were out there is how the very creation groans in travail under the power of the curse that you know PEI grows a lot of potatoes which you may not know is that in PEI and indeed across much of the country but worse in PEI than most place most places there is a thing called the wireworm infestation don't know if you've ever heard about it the wireworm is the larva of a click beetle don't be grossed out by this but it looks like this you see the the worm there and you see the beetle each of those beetles lays about 300 eggs so you can imagine how that spreads well this larva has a nasty habit of digging into tuber roots not only potatoes but carrots and the roots of many many other plants and here's a picture what that does to your potato you can see there what that looks like that potato is unmarketable and talking to my nephew he told me that at one particular point last year one of his fields 50% of the spuds were infected in that fashion you don't stay in business very long if that can't be stopped this is compounded by the fact that one of the chemicals that can be used to protect your harvest against this is being taken off the market the farmers want to fumigate their fields but the government won't let them for fear of polluting the water table and so now they're trying a natural process of brown mustard the roots of which are fumigants and they hope that if you grow that for two years in between it will get rid of the wireworm so that was an interesting thing to be confronted by then when we got to Nova Scotia we discovered that the Nova Scotia apple crop is being plagued by what is known as there you can see it a thing called fire blight and what fire blight does is it invades the leaves you can see that here how they're shriveling up and you can see how it is impacting the whole tree it's called fire blight because it looks like the tree has been on fire well that's caused by a little bacteria and that bacteria has done damage to multitudes of orchards in the Annapolis Valley because of Hurricane Arthur I was talking to a friend of mine who is quite the apple grower I happened to innocently ask the question did Arthur impact you by blowing apples off the tree that's what I thought it would have done well it didn't but what it did is it it did two things it spread this bacteria all over the valley and then the wind damaged the leaves microscopically for the bacteria to take root and so now you have the kind of picture that I just showed you if you want to put that back up for a moment you have trees that are loaded down and if that is not treated the tree will die so they've been going added like crazy trying to get rid of all of those branches and of course that puts them behind in terms of of the rest of the work that has to be done in the apple growing season and it struck me again that we live in a world where all creation groans nobody is entirely free from the troubles of life sometimes there are just those seasons where life is hard and it doesn't seem to stop many of us I'm sure can identify with that doesn't always stay that way because life is seasons but if you're in that kind of a season where it's a season of illness or a season of financial difficulty or a season of health those seasons look interminable when you're in them and how many of us don't cry out in the middle of that in the words of the Israelites here why did my way is hidden from the Lord and my cause is disregarded by my God God where are you now interestingly enough there's a second area where I think particularly Christians are prone to run out of steam and that is as we participate in the mission of Jesus when we are engaged in the mission of Jesus what is the mission of Jesus wants to make disciples of all nations it's summarized for us very clearly I think in our vision statement to be a biblically functioning community through which God's redemptive purposes for the world can be realized we've talked about this many times when God called Abraham the father of all believers and said that God would bless Abraham it was never an end in itself it was always that through Abraham the nations of the world would be blessed and you and I when we're joined to Jesus and we share in the power of the Holy Spirit we share in the mission of Christ and the mission of the church among other things is to make disciples of all nations and so our missions our mission statement as you know summarizes it this way in terms of what it is that we're called to as a church reaching the lost restoring the broken equipping the saints releasing the workers it is a process of taking people from their places of unbelief and rebellion against God and bringing them to a place of obedience and submission to the authority of God that's why we exist among other things as a community that is participating in the work of Christ now here's the rub if ever you've participated in that ministry as many of you have by means of time talent and treasures you will know that while sometimes it is the most rewarding thing that you can engage in in all the world sometimes it is just really tough wouldn't you agree not every unbeliever that you're working with wants to come to faith not every broken person that you're trying to lead to the fountain of living water so they can experience the healing of Christ is ready to embrace the healing of Christ many prefer to stay where they are over the risk of having Jesus accomplish what it is that he wants to accomplish not everybody wants to discover or cultivate their gifts some would rather bury their gifts instead of using them for the service of God and not everybody is interested in becoming a worker in the kingdom there's lots and lots and lots of people that want to take they want to absorb they want the blessings of the kingdom but they want none of the responsibilities isn't that true and if you've ever been in any one of those situations if you've ever interceded for the church to be all that the church is intended to be if you've ever taken somebody by the hand if ever you've invested time talent and treasure in somebody's life and they've slapped you in the face they've turned their backs on you then you know how easy it is to echo the words of this text even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall isn't that true isn't the path of the church littered with the carcasses of those who one day stepped out to be followers of Jesus and who like Israel of old ended up dying in the wilderness because they didn't have the perseverance to see it through and to inherit the kingdom as the book of Hebrew says through faith and patience so how do we stick it out how do you keep going when you're tired how do you overcome when you're weary how do you find new resources when you have run out of resources how do you pick yourself back up when you feel that God has failed you when you feel that people have failed you when you're disappointed in those who are closest to you and everything inside you says this road is simply too hard how do you keep on going well Isaiah says it's not that complicated really it is to get our focus off our problems off our own issues and on to the covenant God of Israel listen again how Isaiah puts it even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall but now notice the transition but big word here but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength they will soar on wings like eagles they will run and grow weary they will walk and want faint again note the contrast even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength they will soar on wings like eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not be faint the picture here is that of an eagle renewing its youth catching the draft of air and soaring high in the sky virtually effortlessly because it is driven by forces other than its own now there are some Bible commentators who think this is a reference to a very old Jewish belief that every ten years eagles would fall into the sea lose their feathers rebuild new ones and then soar again and they would do this ten times until they reach the age of a hundred before they would plunge and die most commentators don't believe that that's what Isaiah is referring to but what Isaiah is really picking up on is that there's a place in covenant relationship with God where there is a supernatural strength that comes upon us that enables us to walk by faith and to accomplish the purposes of God in our generation one commentary that I consulted put it this way it has been found in the experience of thousands and tens of thousands that by waiting on the Lord the heart has been invigorated the faith has been confirmed and the affections have been raised above the world strength has been given to bear trial without complaining to engage in arduous duty without fainting to pursue the perilous and toilsome journey of life without exhaustion and to rise above the world in hope and peace on the bed of death those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength see to wait upon the Lord and to hope in the Lord is to get your mind off the problems it's to get your mind off your own resources it is to focus on who God is what God has committed himself to and then trusting that he is true to his word and that what he said he would do and that when the time is right he will come to our aid and to our salvation now practically speaking how do we do that four suggestions don't know if we can do all of them this morning but let's at least start on the number one we need to know who God is we need to know who God is come back with me for a moment to the text what was Israel's complaint verse 27 my way is hidden from the Lord my cause is disregarded by my God remember God doesn't see me and even if he sees me he doesn't care how often don't we find ourselves in that situation where even if intellectually we know better in our hearts there is the distinct feeling God you're no help to me I don't think you know me you don't see me and if you do know me and if you do see me why do my prayers go unanswered why is my pain on unresolved why do my difficulties nor disability God where are you remember as we read the passage what's God's response to Israel's complaint very significant listen to me with me to these verses 28 and 29 this is God speaking now do you not know have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God the creator of the ends of the earth he will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak without spending too much time on that please note three things that Isaiah is saying in that particular passage number one he says the Lord is the everlasting God the creator of the ends of the earth that is to say God has always been there because God has always been there everything that is in the universe comes from his hand he is almighty he is all powerful he is God overall over the holidays I happen to watch a program on the discover channel which I can never pick up on my own cable package at home talking about the origins of the universe and if you know anything at all about astronomy then you know that everything in the universe spins the moon spins around the earth the earth spins around the sun the sun is part of a galaxy the Milky Way and the Milky Way spins and nobody's ever been able to figure out why the Milky Way spins or how the galaxies have come to be formed except now of recent they have discovered get this at the center of galaxies are huge gigantic black holes black holes are black because all the light is held back by the power of gravity nobody can see them they can only discern them in a secondarily fashion but now the theory is that all galaxies are formed by black holes that spit out these galaxies and that give order to the galaxies and now guess what the whole galaxy revolves around the black hole and somewhere's in there God is trying to teach the human race that everything revolves around God is it any wonder when I put my little circles up that is always God at the center brilliant don't you think it's just science is finally catching up with my drawings well Isaiah says you gotta understand that God knows everything he sees everything and he is bigger than anybody including the Babylonians including illness including death including finances including God knows what that's the first thing but there's a second thing and that is the fact that God is a covenant making and covenant keeping God now that's not immediately evident in the text but it is included in the names of God for notice the usage of names here it says the Lord is the everlasting God the creator of the ends of the earth now if you know your Old Testament you will know that whenever you see the Lord in capital letters in your Bibles that is in place of the name of the Lord God who revealed himself to Moses namely Yahweh because remember the name was holy to the Israelites and so whenever they ran into the name Yahweh they would substitute Adonai which translates into Lord but who's the Lord well he's the God who came to Moses in the burning bush revealed himself as I am that I am the everlasting God has always been there whose intentions never change this is the God of our salvation this is not only the God the creator who by his power made this whole great wide universe this is also the God who comes to his children in the middle of the brokenness and the tragedies of life and he says you know I know you've made a mess I know you deserve to die I know you don't deserve my salvation in fact you have so rebelled against me that I could smite you and send you all to hell but God says you know what I love my creation I love you and even though it's going to cost me everything I am going to enter into covenant with you like I promised Abraham many years ago and I'm going to deliver you out of Egypt and bring you into the promised land and I'm going to give you an inheritance which is imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you and we know from the New Testament that this is fulfilled in the person of Jesus who left the glories of heaven to be one of us who died on the cross was raised from the dead sits at the right hand of God Almighty as Dave pointed out so well last week in him we are established in God we are anointed with the Holy Spirit we are sealed with a seal of God which biblically speaking by the way is baptism and through the Holy Spirit we have the first fruits we have the deposit of the inheritance that is to come how do I know that I can hope in God well he not only made me and so I'm valuable to him by virtue of his creation but more than that he has committed himself to saving me he has done everything that needs to be done to give me whatever I need in order to be able to run the race and to stand before him one day without blemish a wrinkle or spot or any such thing that is the good news of the gospel as Sean mentioned earlier nothing can separate us from that love of that God in time or in eternity and our hearts just need to to explode wide open so that we can take that Ian because it will transform us from the inside out so God says I'm your creator God God says I'm your Redeemer no matter how big the mess you've made how deep the pit you've dug how messy the world is I've come into the world I guarantee that I'm going to move heaven and hell and all of history to deliver you and to present you before me in glory and then of course the third thing to notice here is that because he is who he is he has infinite resources to give us whatever it is that we need he will not grow tired or weary his understanding no one can fathom and then verse 29 he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak and that is the mystery of the gospel isn't it when we know that we're weak when we know that we've come to the end of our tether when we can no longer handle it on our own but we cast ourselves upon the mercies of God when the time is right when God has chosen he comes and he delivers he did that for Israel when the time was right he acted in history and brought the stragglers back to the promised land he did it in the person of Jesus when the time had fully come born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law and he has done it every day since when the time is right he comes into the presence of his people he snaps his fingers and all of a sudden we are lifted up on the wings of eagles and one of the reasons why sometimes life is difficult is because it is through the difficulty that God wants to manifest his grace in his power and I want to end this morning with this quotation of the apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 the verses 8 9 10 and 11 because he illustrates the principle here so profoundly we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia we were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired even of life next time you think life is hard think back to the apostle Paul in the situations that he found himself in out of obedience and service to God he says we were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired even of life indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead he has delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us on him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us as you help us by your prayers it is not God's intention that we should go halfway on the journey of the Christian life and fall by the wayside it is God's intention that we should soar on wings like eagles we will run and not grow weary we will walk and not faint and we can do it only in union with Christ who gives us the Holy Spirit that's where we'll stop this morning Lord willing we'll pick it up next week there are three additional practical steps that I believe you and I need to take if we're to be faithful to God in the journey that he places before us so that when we stand before him on that final day we can hear those incredible words well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful over little I will put you over much amen [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:37:55.660; remove through 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