Craig Groeschel - When You're Tired of Being Tired
I wonder how many of you often feel anxious or overwhelmed with all that you have to do? Would you raise your hands up right now? Anybody else like there? God bless you. You can all be saved. I see your hands everywhere. We see it all the time, especially when we ask somebody, how are you doing? It used to be people would say, I'm doing good. But now anytime you ask someone how they're doing, almost always, what will they say? They'll say, I'm busy. I'm busy, I'm busy. How many of you're busy? Raise your hand. You can type in the comment section, I'm busy. You can even put three Zs if you're really busy. I'm B-U-Z-Z-Z-Y. I am busy.
Everybody's busy. And it's confusing sometimes, because often the harder we work, and the more we get done, it seems like the more that we have to do on the other side of our hard work. No matter how much we do, it seems like there's more to do. We run faster, and it feels like we're not progressing. It's a little bit like the time that I almost accidentally killed Amy. True story. We were at a hotel, we were working out, and I was throwing down some heavy weight, just in case she liked that. And she was on the treadmill, And there were actually a couple other guys in there, and so I just kind of thought, I'll make sure they know that that one's with me.
So I walked up, she's on the treadmill, I kind of walked on up there, and leaned up against the treadmill. It had the little bar. She's walking, and I leaned up against here, and she's kinda walking. And when I leaned up, I didn't realize that I leaned up against the little speed adjuster. And so I'm just leaning on it, making sure everybody knows, I'm trying to talking to her, and she's kinda just walking. She starts walking faster, and I'm leaning up in there just proud she's my wife, and the next thing you know, her eyes get really, really big and she's running and she's looking at me like, you're gonna kill me. Thankfully she grabbed the sides, and I realized I did that, I jumped back and I apologized. But life feels like that sometimes, you're running and you're running, and you're running and you're running, and you're running faster and faster.
One day you feel like, I can't go any faster. I'm exhausted. I feel like I'm on the edge. I'm anxious about all that I have to do, and I'm really discouraged. And so what you think is, you think, well, I'm tired, I'm just tired. And you may be, but many of you, I would suggest, are not just physically tired, because if you're tired, you can take a break, you can take a nap, you can take a vacation. But you tried that, and you're still struggling. I would suggest that many of you, you're not just tired, but you're depleted. And there's a big difference, because if you're tired, you can take a nap. But if you're depleted, you actually need to be refilled. Why? Because your body isn't the only thing that needs rest, your soul actually needs rest as well.
And I came to preach some good news today. If you're overwhelmed, Jesus made a promise to anyone who's exhausted, or on the edge of burnout, Jesus promises to give you rest, and not just rest for your body, but he promises to give you rest for your soul. We're gonna look today at God's Word in Matthew 11, starting in verse 28 when Jesus said this. He said, "Come to me," what's the very next word? He said, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened". And Jesus says, if you're worn out, if you're exhausted, I'll give you rest. He said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I'm gentle and humble in heart". And when you come to Jesus, what will you find? He says, you will find rest, not just for your bodies, but you'll find rest for your souls.
Who does Jesus invite to come? Jesus said, come, what's the next word he said, all. I like this. All. It doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter how far you may feel from him right now. He's not mad at you, he's not disappointed by you, he loves you as you are, and tells you to come to him. Jesus says, come all who are weary, and burdened, and broken down and discouraged. Come to him, he says, if you're weary, and I'll give you rest. That the word weary in the Greek is a very interesting word, it's the word kopos, K-O-P-O-S. And this word very literally means, exhaustion from intense labor or trouble. It means, weary from a physical or emotional beating. Sometimes life can be like that, right? I don't just feel tired, I feel beat down. I feel like after what I've gone through, I barely even have the hope to go on, kopos. It's emotionally or physically beaten down.
I remember maybe a year and a half ago, pastor Tim Doremus from Life.Church Wichita, he preached on the Old Testament story of the Israelites when they were in slavery under Pharaoh and in bondage. And he talked about their only value you may remember, was making bricks. The slaves, their value was in how many bricks they could make from sunup to sundown, they made bricks. This was not just physically exhausting, it was so much more than this. It was kopos. This was soul crushing, mind numbing, spirit draining work. And some of you know that well. Parenting can be kopos. Being married to someone without Jesus can be kopos. Being married to someone with Jesus can at times be kopos. The price of a gallon of milk can be kopos. Trying to make ends meet in this world can be kopos.
Trying to deal with crazy people, they're everywhere, They're in front of you, they're behind you, they are you. And we're just down there making bricks, just working, working, working, working, working, working. No end, no progress. Physically drained, emotionally exhausted. Thank God it's a different day, not like back then with. I'm so thankful with all of our technological advances, and with all of our social progress, and with all the wisdom that we've learned from TikTokkers. We no longer have to find our self worth by the number of bricks that we make, right. We never try to impress someone with our stack of bricks, or the likes we get, or the brand of shoes that we wear, or the kind of car that we drive.
When we meet someone, we never say, what do you do, where do you work? How many bricks do you make? How many followers do you have? What kind of grades you make? Where do you go to college, and measure you up. What neighborhood do you live in? What kind of job do you have? You got a side hustle. You got a YouTube channel, you even have a podcast, bro. And Jesus says, come to me when you're kopos. When you're tired of the grind, when you're tired of the stress, when you're tired of feeling overwhelmed, when you're tired of battling with anxiety, when you're tired of making bricks, come to me. When you think you should be able to handle it all, but you know that you can't. And it's not that you're just physically sinking, but your soul is shrinking.
And Jesus says, come. Come. Come when you can't do any more than you're already doing. Come when you've prayed and prayed, and believed for a miracle, and don't know if you can pray another prayer of faith. Come when you've done everything you know possible to get your child back on the right track. Come when you've worked and worked and worked two jobs, and still can't make ends meet. Come to me when you're broken, you're hurting, you're discouraged, and you need rest. That's powerful. The Savior, the Son of God, the sinless Son of God who says, come to me all who are worn out. And he says, I will give you rest. This is beautiful. And then it gets weird. It does, because right after Jesus says, "Come to me, I'll give you rest". Then he says, "Take my yolk upon you, and learn from me".
How many of you know what a yolk is? If you don't, I'll show you pictures. A yolk is a wooden cross piece that's fastened over the neck of two different animals so they can work together, so they can work at the same pace. And then it's attached to a plow or a cart. In other words, a yolk is a work tool. So here's how it goes, if you're miserable, if you're tired, you can't do anymore, and you want a nap, you wanna take a bubble bath, come to me and I'm gonna put a weight around your neck. That's what Jesus is saying, that's in the Bible, it's right there, it's in red. And when you talk about a yoke, there's no such thing as a single yoke, there's always the two that join two animals together so that they can do more together, and so that they have to work at the same pace. They can get more done, and they work at the same pace.
Jesus is inviting us to join him, so that we work with him, tapping into his power, and we're actually working at a different pace. In other words, he is not just inviting you to believe his truth, which he is, but he's inviting you to live his way, to live like Jesus lived. If you're tired, be joined to him. Do life with his power, do life with his strength, do life with his rhythm. Do life according to his pace. And I know what some of you're thinking right now, you're thinking, but Jesus wasn't a single mom with two jobs. Fair enough. But Jesus didn't have student loan debt. But Jesus didn't work for my boss. True, like all fair. But there's still a lot we can learn from him, because you have to admit, he had a pretty big assignment. Be perfect, like, never sin, and give your life as the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God.
And what did Jesus do the whole time? He was available to his Father, and everywhere he went, he always would meet the agenda that his Father set for him. If there was someone that was sick, he'd often stop and heal them. If there was someone that was broken, he would stop and listen to them. And when you look at Jesus, you'll notice that he was always busy, but he was never rushed. He always had something else to do, but he would also disconnect from the crowd, and spend extended time with his Father. Like, literally he's called into ministry, and what does he do? He takes a 40 day sabbatical. Like, that's the first thing, like, I'm gonna go spend some time with dad, 'cause I need his wisdom, I need his strength.
So I'm gonna go fast, and the devil messing, you can tell him, get behind me. And you know, here's the word of God just to shoot you down. Pop, pop, shoot the word. Oh no, I'm sorry. I'll use my sword. Whack, whack, whack. The sword to spirit, you know. And so I'm gonna beat off the enemy with the word and I'm just gonna be with my Father for a while. And everybody wanted him everywhere he went, all the crowds were fighting to get to see him. They either hated him or wanted him to heal them, or sometimes both at the same place. And yet he seemed to have like long meals with his disciples. And he had deep conversations with a stranger, some woman out getting water, and needed to stop and talked to her about her whole life. And he would listen, and he would see people, and he would love the hurting, and the kids would come up to him and he'd like, you know, talk to them. The kids loved him. He was always busy, but he was never rushed.
And Jesus says to you that are overwhelmed, "Come to me and join my rhythms. Let me be your strength. Let's do life according to my pace". And this is what he said, let's look at it again. Jesus said this. He said, "Take my yoke, this work tool, upon you so you can be joined with me". And he says, "Learn from me". Not just the truth that I say, but the way that I live. "Learn from me, for I'm gentle and humble in heart". And then he says something that is more profound than you probably realized if you've read this very meaningful verse before. He says, "If you join me and if you learn from me, you'll find," what? Let's all say it aloud. You'll find what? You'll find. Rest for your souls.
If you join with me, if you work with me, you'll find rest for your souls. This word that's translated as rest is the word anapausin in Greek. A-N-A-P-A-U-S-I-N. This word only appears five times in scripture. And this word means more than just rest. The translators say rest for your souls, but lemme give you a very literal meaning. It means inner rest or peace while doing what needs to be done. This word, it means peaceful productivity. It's not rest from work, but it is rest in work. Hey, come to me, and be joined together by a work tool, so that you can work at my pace. And when you work at my pace, you're not gonna be weary, but I'm gonna give you rest, not rest from work.
Serving God keeps you busy. It's not about me time, it's all about he time. And I'm not just gonna give you rest from doing things, but I'm gonna give you rest while you're doing things. And I'm gonna try to explain this to you, and I'll be a little bit transparent. I've talked openly about it. About 2019, I hit a wall, and I've been going hard, and a little harder and a little harder and a little harder. Was always durable. Never one time ever missed preaching for anything in 33 years. Never for a birth, never for sickness, never for loss, never missed a preaching thing ever. And I guess the toll started to wear on me. And so I decided to get help, and I went and found counselors that were good for my situation. And I found two of the best. And I interviewed both of them. The first one I said, hey, I think I'm burning out, kinda hitting a wall.
And he almost laughed and said, you think never seen this before? You're like all the rest of 'em, all the hard pushing ones end up there, and you're no different from the rest. Hurt my feelings. Probably true, but hurt my feelings. Next guy, he stepped back and he goes, wow. He said, when I hear about all you're doing, he said, I realize God made you different from the rest. And he said, you know what? We're not gonna try to change you, 'cause God made you this way. We're not gonna try to slow you down. He said, we're gonna actually let you run harder, but we're gonna do it in a way that's pleasing to God and helpful to you. I say, you're hired. I like that. And he taught me, we're gonna have some different rhythms, different rhythms. And it was all new to me. He said, what you've been taught your whole life is we're gonna work, work, work, work, and then rest. And then you're gonna work, work, work, work, and then rest.
And I would work, work, work, work, work, and then rest, and the rest was never enough, because I come back to the same dysfunctional rhythms. And he said, what we're gonna do is we wanna get you to where you're working in a way that you're resting consistently, and not waiting for some vacation in the future to save you, but you're living according to the power of Jesus, so you're experiencing him consistently. And this is a different kind of rest. This was a rest I knew nothing of. In many ways it was a rest from striving, it was a rest from trying to prove myself. It was a rest from me trying to have the strength to get it all done. Some of you are like this.
How many of you have a checklist? You have a checklist? Okay, I have a checklist. My value comes from my checking things off my checklist. When I get to heaven, Jesus will say, well done, my good and checkable servant. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Anybody wanna see my checklist? I'm gonna show you my two months worth of content. This is my checklist. So these are sermons that I will do in a two month period. Those are all different sermons. Those are real ones, you see right there in the middle that's coming up. Masterpiece, overcomer, salt of life. And then at the, those are two months worth. Take those away. It's giving me stress. That's my checklist. Those are different sermons that I'll do over a two month period. There were two sermons that I already did, that I forgot to put on that list.
So I wrote 'em in, you know why? So I could check 'em off. Some of you have that same sickness in your life. But my value does not come from that list. I believe God sent me to tell someone here that your value does not come from what you produce. Your value does not come from what you do. Your value does not come from being the perfect mom. Your value doesn't come for providing for your family. Your value is solely based on who you are in Christ. Come to me, Jesus says. Be yoked to me. Join with me. And so, Amy will tell you, it's taken a lot of work for me to get here, but I am resting in work, meaning I am resting in work. I'm not waiting for the vacation to recover, I'm working with the rhythms that God created, honoring the Sabbath most weeks, not all of them, I'm not gonna lie to you, strike me down, but most weeks. And letting his power be more of what I need.
So what is rest? What is the Jesus kind of rest? I'll define it this way, rest is whatever refocus you on the grace, the goodness, and the glory of God. That's real rest. That's a different kind of rest. That's a soul rest. It's not just taking a nap. It's not just it, you know, putting a little umbrella in your drink, and holding thing by the beach. You know, taking a picture of your toes and your book, going, hashtag blessed. Hope y'all hate me 'cause I hated you. Here's my picture. No, spiritual rest for your souls it can come while you are reading God's Word daily, where it's renewing your mind, it's conforming you to the image of Christ. It can be when you're praying, when you're dialoguing with God, or when you're listening to God. It can be when you're worshiping.
For me, it's taking walks with my best friend, my bride. It's just holding hands, walking, talking, dreaming, reflecting, just being with someone that I love. I took up flying three years ago, and flying, it takes my mind off of work. I get up above things and guess what? When I'm above you, I'm not worried about you. You can do all that stuff you want, but I'm like above you. And I see the beauty of God's creation from 6,00, 8,000 feet up. You might focus on the goodness of God when you're with people that you enjoy. You might focus on the goodness of God when you're at a prayer walk, just taking 30 minutes during your day, just sneaking outta the off, and just walking and talking to God. Maybe it's when you're worshiping in your car, you're at a stoplight, and they're laughing, and you're worshiping.
Look at that guy over there, you don't care, you're just praising God like crazy. And maybe just over a cup of coffee where you're just with someone that you love. Maybe God's Word is open. You might be when you're gardening. This is God's creation, I'm planting and watering and he's making grow. It could be when you're using your gifts to paint, or you're meeting with your Wednesday prayer group. You're resting in his love. You're resting in his forgiveness, the perfect work of Jesus. You're resting in his promises, you're resting in his faithfulness. Whenever you're weak, you're resting in the truth of his word that his power is made perfect in your weakness.
So, if you're tired of the grind, if you're tired of the stress, if you're tired of being defined by what you do, and what you produce, Jesus says, come to me. Come to me, and I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest for your souls. In fact, I'm gonna invite Pastor Rob just to help me, and I'm gonna give you a moment just to rest in his presence. You may close your eyes if you want. You may pray quietly where you are, if you know the words, you might sing along. But I'm gonna tell you right now that the Son of the living God, Jesus, the perfect sinless one who came, not for those who were healthy, but he came for those who were sick. He didn't come for the righteous, but he came for the broken sinners like you and like me. He didn't come for those who had it all together, but he came for those who knew that they couldn't do it on their own.
And he said, come to me. Come to me, and I will give you rest for your souls. It's not just rest from work, but it's spiritual rest in work. And he'll tell you if you listen that he'll give it to you, it's a gift just like salvation. You don't earn it, you don't deserve it. You just have to receive it. So what else do you do? What box do you check? Today? Nothing. Like nothing. Just come to him. Just come to him. Just tell him you need him. Just cry out to him. Jesus says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. Come to him today. Come to him by faith. Cry out to him, Jesus, I need you. I worship you. Would you be enough? Come to him. Come to him. Come to him. Come to him. Rob, help me. Come to him.
And so Father, we come to you now. We come to you now humbly. We need you. We need more of you. We need more of you.
Today at all of our churches, those of you online that you are worn out, and it's not just that you're physically tired, but maybe you're spiritually discouraged. Maybe you're emotionally depleted. Maybe you've done all that you can do and you can't do anymore. If you need the presence, and the grace and the power of Jesus, would you just lift up your hands right now, all around our room today. Online, just type in the comment section, I need more of Jesus. Just type in, I need more of Jesus. Go and leave your hands up if you want to, maybe in an act of worship. And we just say:
Jesus, we're coming to you right now. We thank you that you invite us to come, even when we're unworthy, even when we're unclean and when we've done it all ourselves, and we can't do anymore. We're weary, we're burdened, we're heavy laden. We just come to you and we thank you that you are gentle, that you are humble in heart. We thank you that you invite us to join you, to take your yoke and to be yoked to you. Not just to know your truth, but to live your truth. Jesus, I pray today for those who can't do anymore. God in our weakness, would you be our strength? God, I pray for hurting marriages. I pray for hurting parents. And I pray for those who need miraculous provision. I pray for those that need a miracle from heaven, God, that we would come, come, come in the name of Jesus. We'd come to the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus, and we just come to you. Nothing else. We just come. Would you be enough? (We pray this in the name of who? Say it with me.) We pray in the name of Jesus. Jesus.
As you keep praying today, there are some of you here that you don't know where you stand with God. And I would just invite you at all of our churches, if you could just kind of keep your posture of prayer, maybe keep your eyes closed, I wanna talk to any of you today that don't know where you stand with God. If I ask you, hey, are you okay with God? Are you close to God? Are you right with God? If you hesitate for a moment, if there's any hesitation, any explanation, I'm talking to you.
If you don't know where you stand, I'm talking to you today and I wanna tell you how good God is. Jesus is the Son of God. God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, Jesus. Jesus, the Lamb of God. Jesus, perfect in every way. And he didn't come for the church people who looked perfect. He came for the sinners who needed a savior. He came for the broken, he came for the hurting. He came for people like me, he came for people like you. And Jesus gave his life on a cross, he shed innocent blood in our place so we could be forgiven. And God defeated death, hell and the grave by raising Jesus from the dead, so that anyone, and this includes you, anyone, he says, come all.
Anyone who calls on the name that is above every name, anyone who calls on the name of Jesus, that you would be forgiven, all of your sins washed away. You wouldn't just be like a better version of you. You'd be new, you'd be different. The old is gone than new is here. Today at all of our churches, there are those of you, you are here for this moment. You're watching online, you know this is you. Jesus loves you as you are. He's telling you to come. You're gonna like, well, I gotta clean this thing up. I gotta stop cussing. I gotta stop looking at bad stuff. No, you come. You come right now. You come to Jesus as you are. When you do, when you cry out to him, he forgives all of your sins and he makes you brand new.
Today, wherever you're watching from, those who say, "Yes, I need that. Jesus I need you. I'm coming to you. Jesus, I step away from my sin. I give you my life". If that's your prayer, lift your hands high right now all over the place who say yes. Praise God for you right here. Others today say, oh yes. Others in here. At all of our churches we celebrate today. Lift up your hands and say, "Yes, Jesus. I surrender my life completely to you". Those of you online, just type in the comments section, I am giving my life to Jesus. I'm giving my life to Jesus. And today, as we have people all over the world, surrendering to the goodness and the grace of Jesus, his invitation, would you all pray aloud? There's nobody that prays alone. As the family of God, we pray together:
Heavenly Father, forgive my sins. Jesus, save me. Make me new. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I could walk in your power, and so I could know you, and I could show your love in all that I do. I'm coming to you as I am, trusting you to save me, to make me new. My life is not my own. I give it all to you. Thank you for new life. You have all of mine. In Jesus' name I pray.