Rick Warren - How to Keep Your Tank Filled Instead of Running on Empty
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Summary
In this sermon from the «Strategies for Stressful Times» series, Rick Warren uses the analogy of running out of gas in a car to illustrate why people feel spiritually, emotionally, and relationally empty, listing ten common reasons such as not refueling regularly, ignoring limits, and carrying overloads. Drawing from Matthew 11:28–30, he emphasizes Jesus' invitation to come to Him for true soul rest when weary and burdened. The key takeaway is to refill one’s tank by getting fed up with emptiness, coming to Jesus, giving up control by yoking with Him, learning gentleness and humility, starting days with God, and staying connected to the church family.
Opening Survey and Introduction
I want to begin today with two questions—a two-question survey, okay? The first question is this: Now be honest, don’t lie. How many of you have ever run out of gas? Can I see your hands? Great! All right. The rest of you, I hate. Okay, all right. You are my kind of people! Those of you who raised your hands—the rest of you, you didn’t raise your hands. You can go home right now; you don’t need this message. You are too perfect, and I envy you. You’re honestly in my hall of fame! Now here’s the second survey question. Everybody can raise their hands on this one: How low do you let your gas tank get before you refill?
Okay, so when you refill after a quarter of a tank low, how many of you do that? You can go home right now; you don’t need this message! All right, when your tank is half empty, how many of you refill? All right, when your tank is three-quarters of a tank empty, raise your hand. All right! When you are five miles past empty, raise your hand. You need to stay! Okay, those of you who raised your hands, you need to stay for this message.
Now what I want us to do today, as we start in this next message of the series «Strategies for Stressful Times, » is look at how to keep your tank filled instead of running on empty. Before we discuss the antidote, the solution to staying spiritually, emotionally, and relationally filled, so that your tank is full, I first need to identify the ten reasons why you run out of gas. Okay? I want you to get out your pencil and write this down: the ten reasons you run out of gas. Each of these reasons why we run out of gas in our cars actually parallels the ten reasons why you feel spiritually empty or emotionally empty too. So as I give them to you, as we go through this list of ten things, I want you to circle the number of reasons that actually apply to your spiritual or emotional condition if you’re feeling a little low, a little run-down, right now.
Ten Reasons We Run Out of Gas
Okay, here they are. Number one: The first reason we run out of gas is not starting out with a full tank. Not starting out with a full tank—now we’re going to look at some antidotes to these later on, but how you start your day sets your day. Not starting out every day with a full tank means you’re going to be on empty much of the day.
Number two: Being too busy to stop and refuel. That’s the second reason we run out of gas. When you’re too busy to stop and refuel, and some of you can relate to that in your emotional life, in your relational life, in your spiritual life.
Number three: Ignoring the owner’s manual and pushing my car farther than it was created to go. You’ve got a ten-gallon tank or a fifteen-gallon tank or a twenty-gallon tank or whatever it is; you need to know what the owner’s manual says. When you push it farther than the owner’s manual tells you, you’re going to run out of gas. Now I hate to tell you this, but you’re not Superman; you’re not Superwoman. You have limits, and one of the limits that God puts in your life is actually in the Ten Commandments. It says this: Every seventh day is for worship, rest, and relaxation. It’s called the Sabbath, and if you ignore the Sabbath and don’t take a day for worship, rest, and relaxation, then you’re going to pay for it, and you’re going to be running on empty most of your life.
Okay, here’s the fourth cause that we run out of gas emotionally and spiritually—not just in our cars. Number four: Being unaware of hidden leaks. Being unaware of hidden leaks that are draining me. The most common causes of leaks in your life—because you are draining energy all the time—are your relationships; they drain you, and your responsibilities; they drain you. I don’t know if you realize this, but conflict drains you of energy, criticism drains you of energy, disappointment drains you of energy, frustration drains you of energy. You’ve experienced all of these during the pandemic. Grief, when you have a loss, drains you of energy. These are common leaks that empty your soul. All right? And when you’re unaware of the hidden leaks in your life, you’re going to run out of gas pretty quickly emotionally and spiritually.
Okay, number five: Being in a hurry. Being in a hurry drains your tank. Now, you already know that going fast wastes more gas. I mean, you know that when you’re driving really fast, rapid acceleration—speeding up—when the light turns green, that burns a lot of gas faster. And the faster I drive, the faster I’m going to run out of gas, and my tank is going to go low. Now the same is true with your soul. When you’re in a hurry and you don’t pause enough to refill, then your tank is going to go empty quicker, and the faster you go in life, the faster the pace of your life—are you hearing me? The faster the pace of your life, the quicker you are going to get to empty on the E of your gauge. So you ought to ask yourself: What is the speed of my life today? If I’m running on empty, if I’m running on fumes, if I feel a little low, a little down, I feel a little discouraged, then maybe you’re still going too fast in this pandemic. What is the speed of my life?
More Reasons for Emptiness
Number six: A common cause of running on empty and having an empty tank is not paying attention to my gauges. Not paying attention to my gauges. Now, those of us like me who have ADD, we don’t pay attention to the gauges. I rarely see that gauge. I’ve got to have a big light come on saying, «You are stupid, and you’re on empty, and you need to stop and get some gas right now.» I don’t pay attention to my gauges. But the same is true in life. Did you know that you have gauges in your life that can tell you if you’re getting near empty? What are the spiritual and emotional gauges in your life? Let me just give you a few of them. Your sleep pattern—when you’re not getting enough sleep, guess what? You’re heading toward empty. Another gauge: Your irritability. When everybody around you notices you’re more irritable than normal, guess what? That’s a gauge! It’s a gauge that says you’re running on fumes; you’re running on empty. You’re a lot less irritable when your tank’s full emotionally and spiritually. Your relationships are a gauge. How are you getting along in your relationships? That’s a gauge in your life to tell you whether you’re on empty or whether you’ve got a full tank. I hate to say this, but your weight—your weight is a gauge of how you’re handling life. How about your attitudes? Okay? Your attitudes. How about your generosity? You’re much more generous when you’ve got a full tank. When you don’t have a full tank, you’re not very generous in life with your time, your money—what? Anything. Worship attendance is a gauge. When people start falling off and stop going to church services, going to worship, that’s a gauge! There are all kinds of gauges. Patience! How patient are you? That’s a good indicator of whether you’ve got a full tank or you’re heading toward empty. Each of these are gauges of how empty or full your soul is.
Now the seventh common cause of being empty—gas-wise—out of gas is this: Being overloaded. Being overloaded. When your car is carrying too much weight, it uses more gas than when there isn’t as much weight in the car. The heavier the load you carry in a vehicle, the sooner you’re going to run out of gas. I can tell you from personal experience. Years ago, I borrowed a vacation trailer to take my young family on a vacation. So I attached the trailer to my car; I had never pulled a trailer before, and I headed north for a family vacation. I did not consider that carrying more weight behind my car meant that I was going to get fewer miles per gallon. I thought, «Well, I’ll just get the normal miles per gallon. I can go this far.» But I didn’t realize that, climbing up the Grapevine, you know, the mountains north of L.A., and you’re going up the mountains out of L.A. with very strong winds coming against you, I helplessly watched my gas gauge go down. There’s no place to turn around, okay? There’s no place to turn around; there are no gas stations. And when we did run out of gas, inevitably on the Grapevine, I had to leave Kay and the kids in the car and hike up the mountain to the nearest town, which was Gorman. You all know where that is. And in Gorman, I had to get a thing of gas and then hike back down. Some of you are making that mistake right now. When you’re carrying a heavier load than you normally carry, you’re running out of gas sooner.
Overload and Pride
It reminds me of a story I heard the other day about a pet delivery truck. There were guys going down El Dorado Road, and there was a car behind him watching this happen. And at every stoplight, the driver of the truck would get out with a big tube before and start beating on the side of the truck. And when it turned green, he would get back in the truck and go. When he reached the next red light, he’d get out, beat the truck with the tube, get back in the truck. He does this three or four times, and finally, the guy following him gets too curious. At the next light, he stops and says, «What are you doing?» The driver explained, «Well, this is a two-ton truck, and I’m transporting four tons of canaries, so I have to keep half of them in the air all the time.» Some of you feel like that. You’ve got so many things in the frying pan; you’ve got so many things on your agenda, you’ve got to keep half of them in the air all the time because you’re overloaded. And if you’re trying to say to yourself, «I can’t handle this; it’s too much, » you may need to lighten your load. Okay? That’s a typical cause of running on empty—having too big of a load.
Number eight: The eighth common cause of running out of gas emotionally, spiritually, and in your life is this: Assuming the limits of my tank don’t apply to me. Now, I happen to have a big SUV—a big Ford SUV; you know I’ve driven one all my life, and it holds like twenty-six gallons. Some of you, your car doesn’t hold half that amount. But when you think that your tank is bigger than it really is and you assume that it doesn’t apply to you, there’s a word for that. When I take on more than I can really handle, it’s called pride. Pride! And honestly, you guys, I meet a lot of people who are proud of being workaholics. They all live in Orange County, California! They are proud of how hard they work, and they think they’re invincible. But the truth is, they’re running on empty. Pride drains your tank; humility refills your tank.
All right, a ninth cause of why you run out of gas emotionally, spiritually, and even relationally is not knowing where to find a filling station. Now, this isn’t such a big problem anymore because we all have smartphones and Google Maps and Apple Maps and all these other things, but before that happened, you remember, «Where in the world is a gas station?» You had no idea where it was, especially if you were out on a long trip. You go, «I have no idea if there’s a gas station in the next town.» And when you don’t know where you could get refilled, that’s a problem. But spiritually and emotionally, a lot of people don’t know where to get refilled too. Now, of course, Saddleback’s filling station is Saddleback Church! And all the other good churches that preach the Bible, teach the Bible—they are emotional and spiritual filling stations. But, you know, during COVID, a lot of people were running on empty emotionally because they’ve gotten out of the habit of going to their filling station! And so they’re not getting refilled, at least on a weekly basis, through the church service.
Not Knowing How to Refill
Sometimes I look at you coming in here, and I see you, you know, on a Saturday or Sunday, and I feel like you come walking in just really drained. I feel like I’ve got jumper cables, and it’s my job to attach them to you and go, «Go! Get out there! Go for another week! Hang on!» You know, I’m like a spiritual coach. I’m like the guy slapping Rocky in the corner, pouring water on him: «Go, go, go, man! You can do it! Get out there and do another round!» And I know you’re getting beat up on a weekly basis. And you know I love you as your pastor, and I feel like my job is to be a spiritual filling station—to help you get recharged and refilled emotionally and spiritually for the week ahead. But for people who’ve gotten out of the habit of coming, if they don’t do that, they’re just getting more and more drained.
Finally, the tenth reason—and this really has to do more if you’ve never driven a car—is not knowing how to refill my tank. I have to admit that when I got my newer car, I didn’t know how to open the gas tank. I kept looking for the thing to pop open, and I couldn’t figure it out. Then finally, I figured out, «Oh, you just press on it, and it opens up on its own.» But I didn’t know how to refill my tank for several days. Now, the feeling of emptiness during the COVID pandemic is at an all-time high. A lot of people are feeling empty right now; they’re feeling drained. But I want to tell you this: Everybody listen. What we’re going through is not new! People have gone through periods of draining and feeling empty for centuries and actually millennia.
Let me just show you a couple of things in scripture from the Bible. Look up here on the screen—in Lamentations 2:11, Jeremiah says this: «My eyes have no more tears, and I feel sick to my stomach, and I feel empty inside.» That’s thousands of years ago, guys. You may be feeling that today. Well, Jeremiah, who wrote that book, felt it. He said, «I feel empty inside.» How about this one? Look on the screen. Job 7:3 says, «I am given months that are empty.» Sounds like a pandemic! «I am given months that are empty and nights of misery.» So Job understands if you’re in that way. How about this one in Isaiah? This is out of the Amplified translation. Isaiah says this: «I have labored in vain, and I’ve spent my strength for nothing and in empty futility.» He said, «I’m feeling empty.» Or how about this one—one more! 2 Samuel 3:39—David says this: «Even though I am the appointed king, I feel empty.» So you may be at the pinnacle of your career; you may have your name on the cover of some magazine. David says, «Even though I’m the king, I feel empty inside.»
Circling Personal Reasons
Now, before we look at the solutions, I want to pause right here, and I want you to look at that list of ten things on your outline, and I want you to go back and circle the numbers that apply to your life. All right? Circle the—look at that list and go through it again! All right, let’s look at it again. If you’d say, «Not starting out with a full tank every day—that’s me!» Check that one, circle it. «Being too busy to stop and refuel»—circle that one. «Ignoring the owner’s manual, pushing my car or my life further than it was created to go»—circle that one. «Being unaware of hidden leaks»—maybe you’ve got conflict in your life. Number five: «Being in a hurry»—number six: «Not paying attention to my gauges»—maybe you need to check that one. Number seven: «Being overloaded. I’ve got too much to do right now.» Number eight: «Assuming that the limits of my tank don’t apply to me.» Number nine: «Not knowing where to find a filling station»—obviously, you know that one; you don’t have to circle that. Number ten: «Not knowing how to refill my tank.» If you circled the last one, you came to the right weekend because that’s what we’re going to look at: How do you refill your tank?
Jesus' Invitation for Rest
Now, what does Jesus have to say about all this? What does Jesus have to say when we come to him with an emptiness in our lives, an empty soul, an empty heart, empty of character? How does Jesus respond when you say, «I’ve got nothing to give! I’m all out of gas! I’m living on fumes?» What does Jesus do when you come to him in your emptiness? Does he scold you? No! No! Does he judge you? No! Does he reprimand you and say, «Oh, you should be full»? No! In fact, he does the exact opposite! Jesus says this in Matthew 11. Look at this—Matthew 11:28–30. He says this: «If you’re tired»—I would assume that includes a lot of people sitting here right now and those who are listening and daily hope. «If you’re tired»—most people are tired today because of what we’ve been through the last eighteen months. «If you’re tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me.» Come to me, and I will give you a whole lot more to do! Oh no, that’s not what he says! He doesn’t say, «Come to me, and I’ll give you a whole bunch of new things to do.» No! He says, «I will give you rest.» Anybody like that? That’s what Jesus says! When you come to him with your emptiness, «Come to me, and I will give you rest.» Now he’s not talking about physical rest; you can get that. He’s talking about emotional and spiritual rest. You can be physically rested and still feel empty inside. We’re not talking about physical emptiness today.
You know the last two days—do you know what I did? Each of our grandkids, when they turn ten, Kay and I take them on a two-day trip to wherever they want to go in California. It’s on your tenth birthday. The last of our grandkids turned ten—Claire turned ten this week. So we said, «Wherever you want to go in California.» Some have gone to San Francisco; some have gone to Tahoe. Claire decided two days of Disneyland! I walked my tushy off for the last two days! The first day, we walked 9.2 miles—I measured it—over 30,000 steps in Disneyland! We’ve been on every ride you can possibly imagine! And we were there for two days. I’ll be honest with you guys: I’m tired today! But that doesn’t have to do with my emotional state. It doesn’t have to do with my mental, physical, or spiritual state; I’m just tired. So, thank you, guys; figure it all out on your own. Goodbye! No, no! You know you can be physically tired but not spiritually empty and not emotionally empty! Or you could be physically fit. Some of you are physically fit; you look like it. But you’re emotionally empty or you’re spiritually empty! So Jesus, when he says, «Come to me, and I’ll give you rest, » he’s talking about rest for your soul. In fact, he says that later in the passage. «If you’re tired of carrying heavy burdens, come to me, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, then learn from me, for I’m gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your soul.» That’s refilling your tank! For the yoke I share with you is easy to wear, and it makes the load light!
Step One: Get Fed Up
Now I want you to circle—if you’re taking notes, circle the word «come, » circle the word «take, » and circle the word «learn.» These are the first steps. Ready? Step number one: Get fed up with how I’ve been feeling. Get fed up with how I’ve been feeling! Nothing is going to change in your life until you get dissatisfied with it. Dissatisfied with the way that you feel right now! You have to come to the point in your life, my friends, where you say, «I’m not going to live this way anymore! I’ve had enough! I’m not going to stay this way anymore! I’m going to change. I’m going to do something about the way that I feel!» Nothing happens until you get desperate. You see, it’s just too easy to put up with everything you’re going through even when you don’t like it simply because it’s familiar. It may be uncomfortable; it may be even painful; it may be even empty, but it’s familiar. So what is it that’s going to cause you to finally get fed up with your current situation, your current circumstance, and the way that you’ve been feeling about it?
I’ve talked to thousands and thousands of people about this issue over the last forty-two years as a Saddleback pastor, and I’ve discovered that there are only three times when people really, really change. Three things change people: Pain, perspective, and no other choice. Pain, perspective, and no other choice. You’re not going to change the situation you’re in; you’re not going to change the way you feel until you either have enough pain, or you change your perspective from what we talked about here, or you have no other choice.
Now, let me show you just three Bible examples of what I just said. First, Solomon says this about pain in Proverbs 20:27–30. He says this: «The Lord gave us a conscience and a mind, so we cannot hide from ourselves. I know when I’m in pain; I know when I’m empty. But he says sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.» Everybody agree with that? Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways! You see, we don’t change when we see the light; we change when we feel the heat. And when the heat’s on, we never change until the fear of change is exceeded by the pain. And that’s why you stay with situations and circumstances and stay even with the feelings of emptiness and dissatisfaction in your own life—because you’re not in enough pain yet. You haven’t hit rock bottom; it hasn’t gotten that bad for you. Until you get so uncomfortable and so dissatisfied, we only change when our pain is greater than the problem or the fear of change. So pain will cause you to change.
Pain, Perspective, and No Choice
Number two: We get this from the story of Jesus’ parable of the lost son. You remember that guy? He’s a young kid, and he says, «Dad, I want my inheritance now. I’m leaving!» And he leaves, takes all of his inheritance, and goes to Las Vegas, downtown strip, and spends all his money on wine, women, and song. And it says there about the situation, «He wasted everything he’d been given on foolish living until he was broke, miserable, and starving.» He had to get a job feeding pigs! Now, you remember—pork is anathema for Jews! This guy’s Jewish, and what’s he doing? He’s feeding pigs! So he’s got not only a dirty job, he’s got a job he’s not supposed to even be doing! He had to get a job feeding pigs, and he became so hungry that he was willing to eat the pig’s food! You’ve got to be pretty hungry to eat pig slop! But finally, he came to his senses—that’s perspective! I’ve been teaching you about perspective every week in this series on strategies for stressful times. We talked about it last week—how you’ve got to have God’s perspective. He came to his senses. That’s when we change! He came to his senses and he said to himself, «What?»—self-talk! You talk to yourself all the time! He said to himself, «Self, this is not right! I don’t have to stay this way if I don’t want to!» Finally, he came to his senses and he said to himself, «Why am I living like this? At my father’s home, even the hired servants eat better than I do.» So he decided to get up and go home to his father! Solomon says pain will motivate me, and the prodigal son says a perspective—«Hey, I don’t have to live this way! The people who work for my dad eat better than I do! I can go home and just be a servant, and that would be better than what I’m living right now.» So pain and perspective. But Jonah—the third guy gives us an example of how we change when we finally have no other choice. When Jonah hit bottom—and I mean literally bottom—he’s thrown overboard on the ship. He sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and in Jonah 2, we have Jonah’s prayer at the bottom of the ocean! One of the things he says in Jonah 2:7—one of my favorite verses in the Bible—«When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once again to the Lord.» When you don’t have any other choice, that’s when you turn to the Lord!
Now nothing is going to change in your life—that emptiness, that despondency, that depression, that feeling of unfulfillment—nothing’s going to change until you get dissatisfied with the way you are. And it’ll either be pain or perspective or you’ll have no other choice. But sometimes it requires all three! Now that’s why Jesus starts his solution to your emptiness by saying this: Look on the screen! If you’re tired—in other words, if you’re not tired of the way you’re living—Jesus doesn’t have anything to offer you! Let me just be honest with you. If you’re satisfied with the way you’re living right now, Jesus has nothing to offer you! If you’re self-satisfied, even smug about what’s happening in your life—saying, «I don’t need anything; nothing needs to improve in my life»—Jesus has nothing to offer you! On the other hand, if you are tired, that means I get fed up. I am tired of living the way I’ve been living! If you’re tired from carrying heavy loads, if you’re not tired of trying to solve all the problems by yourself, Jesus can’t help you!
Breakdown to Breakthrough
So let me ask you, are you tired? Are you tired of running on empty? Are you fed up with the emptiness that you’ve been feeling in your life? And are you willing to do something about it? As I said, we don’t change until we feel the heat! You have to come to some point in your life where you go, «I have had enough! I refuse to live this way any longer!» It is a point of dissatisfaction!
All right, now let me ask you a personal question—friend to friend. Do any of you—you don’t have to raise your hand on this—but do you feel you’re at a breaking point right now? If you do, I want you to write this down. I’m going to put it on the screen. Write this down: A breakdown is the door to a breakthrough. Just write that down! A breakdown is always the door to a breakthrough. There is no breakthrough until you have the breakdown! The breakdown of my pride, my arrogance, my self-sufficiency—a breakdown when I realize I can’t do this on my own. A breakdown is always the door to a breakthrough, and I want you, as your friend, to have a breakthrough!
Now let me give you another thing to write down. Write this down underneath it: I can’t make a comeback until I admit my setback! I can’t make a comeback until I admit my setback! If you’re unwilling to admit that you have a setback and that you’re empty and that you need God’s help in your life, nobody can help you right now! I can’t have a comeback! Every comeback requires a setback first, but you’ve got to admit it!
Step Two: Come to Jesus
Now once you’ve done this first step, which is get fed up—I’m fed up with the way I’ve been feeling—now you’re ready for step two. It’s real simple! Three words: come to Jesus! Write that down! Come to Jesus! That means you bring the good and the bad in your life. You bring the frustrating and the painful; you bring the shameful things in your life. You bring everything to Jesus, and you come to Jesus! Jesus says this: «If you’re tired»—okay, I’m fed up—«If you’re tired from carrying heavy loads, come to me, and I’ll give you rest.» Now notice who you’re to come to and what you’re to come to! He says, «Come to me, » and what he gives you back—who do you come to? Jesus! What does he give you back? Rest! Now notice, friends, it doesn’t say, «Come to religion.» Religion can’t help you! He doesn’t say, «Come to rules.» Rules can’t help you when you’re empty! He doesn’t say, «Come to rituals.» Rituals can’t help you when you’re empty! He doesn’t say, «Come to regulations.» Regulations don’t help you when you’re empty! He says, «Come to me!» Come to me! The antidote to your emptiness, the antidote to your overload, the antidote to all the icky things that you’re feeling right now, that overloaded soul, that empty soul—it’s not a plan for time management, okay? It’s not a program for stress relief. It’s not a philosophy; it’s not a program; it’s not a pill. It’s a person! Come to me! You come to Jesus—not to religion or anything—you come to Jesus!
Now, I’ve studied scripture all my life, and you know what I’ve discovered? In the Bible, people came to Jesus for a lot of different reasons—some of them good, some of them bad. Some came for forgiveness, some came for healing, some came to Jesus for advice, some came for eternal life, some because they had a question. You know what? Jesus didn’t care why people came to him as long as they came to him! Jesus doesn’t care why you come to him, just that you come to him! Look at this verse on the screen: John 6:37—Jesus says, «Whoever comes to me, I will never reject.» Now, notice what Jesus promises. Look at the next thing he says. He says, «Come to me, and I will give you rest.» What kind of rest? Rest for your soul! That’s much deeper than physical rest! Your problem right now is probably not overloaded muscles! Some of you probably need to use those muscles a little bit more. What you have is not overloaded muscles; what you have right now is an overloaded mind! You have an overloaded spirit! You have an overloaded soul! And we need rest—not from physical work probably, but from tension! We need rest from anxiety! You know what I’m talking about! We need rest from hurry! We need rest from worry! Now that’s a different kind of rest! As I said, it’s not just sleep!
Soul Rest from Jesus
You know how you unwind when you’re physically tired? That’s one way! How do you unwind when you’re spiritually and emotionally mentally exhausted? What’s your first choice? Watch a movie? Do your hobby? Do an exercise? Go do a sport? You know what? Those are all good things! Those are all good things! But none of them can restore your soul! Only God can restore your soul! That’s why Jesus said, «If you’ve got soul emptiness, you’ve got soul depression, you’ve got soul overload, come to me!» Isaiah 40—look at this verse on the screen: «He gives power to those who are tired and worn out, and he offers strength to the weak.» So when you’re inside—when you’re empty inside—let me just point out the differences. When you’re empty inside, you know what culture says? The world says when you’re empty inside, you need to do more! You need to have more! You need more things! You need to make more money! That’s why you’re empty—make more money! Get more things! Do more things! Travel to more places! Culture says the antidote to your emptiness is go, go, go, go, go, go! Jesus said, «No, don’t go! Come! Come to me! Come just as you are!» He’s not going to nag you; he’s not going to judge you. He’s going to say, «I’ll give you rest!»
Step Three: Give Up Control
Now we come now to the third step. First, get fed up with how I’ve been feeling. And then second, come to Jesus because he’s going to give me rest for my soul. Now here’s the third step—big one: three words: give up control! Give up control! You see, the real reason for overload in your life is because we try to control things too much! We try to control things too much! We don’t even realize how much we try to control things too much, but we act subconsciously as if it all depends on me. I have to hold everything together; I’ve got to make it all happen! Now listen, I love you guys! I just want to tell you that the greater you need to control things, the more overloaded and stressed you’re going to be in life! You’ve got to learn to give up control! The greater your need for control, the more overloaded, the more empty, the more stressed, the more depressed you’re going to be in life! Jesus’ third solution to running on empty is this: the next part of that verse: «Take my yoke upon you.» That’s the third step! Get fed up, come to Jesus, give up control!
Now, obviously, this needs to be explained! What’s he talking about here? Take my yoke! Well, he’s not talking about an egg yolk, okay? Not that kind of egg yolk! He’s talking about the wooden frame that you put over two farm animals so that they work together. When you take two cattle and they’re going to pull a wagon together, you put a yoke over both of them, and then they pull it together! You say, «Wait a minute, wait a minute! That doesn’t sound very relaxing! Take my yoke? That sounds a lot more like a burden! I’m already carrying too much of a burden! Why in the world would I want to take Jesus’ yoke on me?» Because you don’t understand the purpose of a yoke! The purpose of a yoke is to lighten the load—not to make a heavier load! The purpose of a yoke is so that you share the load you’re carrying! You’re already carrying the load! Jesus says, «Yoke up with me, and I’ll help you carry it!» See, when two animals team up together, it makes the load lighter, not harder!
Now Jesus is God! He’s not carrying any load; He has no load because he’s God! He’s not carrying anything! And he goes on to explain that in the next verse—verse 30! Look at that verse! He says, «For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.» I’m not going to dump more on you! When you’re tired, when you’re worried, when you’re empty, when you’re frustrated, he says, «I’m going to take it off you by helping you carry your load.» He says, «My yoke is easy and light.» I love the New Living Translation! It says, «My yoke fits perfectly.» In other words, it’s not uncomfortable; it’s not rough; it’s not tight; it’s not painful!
Yoked with Jesus
Now, friends, a yoke is a symbol of partnership. It means you’re no longer going through life by yourself! You’re teamed up with God, and he’s going to help you carry the load! You weren’t meant to go through life carrying your load all by yourself! Are you hearing me? You weren’t meant to go through life carrying that load all by yourself! He says, «I’ll take part of it, and I’ll carry it with you!» He doesn’t have any load; he’s God! He doesn’t add to your load; he takes it from you! He says, «I’ll share it!» Now you’re not carrying the load by yourself!
Now this principle of giving up control to God is all through the scriptures, and it’s really the antidote to peace! Let me show you some verses. Psalm 55:22: «Pile all your troubles on God’s shoulders; he’ll carry your load and help you out.» I love that in the message! «He’ll carry your load and help you!» You pile it on his shoulders! You yoke up with him! Let me ask you, who’s got a stronger back—you or God? Jesus says, «Join up with me! Come to me! Give up control! Join with me! And I’ll put the load on me, and we’ll carry it together!»
Now, what does that mean? Well, let me just be real honest with you. If you’re feeling overloaded right now, it means that at this point right now, you are not yoked to Jesus Christ! When I feel overloaded, when I feel stressed out, when I feel like I’m going under, every time I feel that way, it means that somehow I’ve gotten detached or disconnected from Jesus! I’ve gotten detached or disconnected! So this yoke is a symbol of partnership, but it’s also a symbol of control because it’s used to guide animals. You see, when I’m yoked with Jesus, we move together in the same direction at the same pace. When I’m not yoked to Jesus, I can move at a pace that’s too fast, and I can go off into a ditch very easily! But if you’re yoked to Jesus, there’s no way He’s going to let you outpace yourself. There’s no way He’s going to let you go off into a ditch! There’s no way you can go off into a ditch if you’re paced—you’re partnered; you’re yoked with Jesus! A yoke keeps us from going off on our own; it keeps us from getting in trouble! Galatians 5—look at that verse on your outline! «Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.» How? By being yoked to Jesus! Partnering with Jesus!
How do I keep in step with the Spirit? Next verse! Romans 3:28: «Our lives get in step with God by»—read it aloud with me together—«letting him set the pace.» Circle that: «letting him set the pace!» If you’re setting the pace, it’s probably the wrong pace! You know, it’s interesting to me that we have no record in scripture of Jesus running anywhere! Jesus was never in a hurry! You won’t be either if you’re connected to Christ!
The Lord Is My Pace Setter
Many years ago, I found this poem, and it’s meant a lot to me during tough times. It’s called «The Lord is My Pace Setter.»
The Lord is my pace setter; I shall not rush.
He makes me stop and rest for quiet intervals.
He provides me with images of stillness, which restore my serenity.
He leads me in the ways of efficiency through calmness of mind,
And his guidance is peace.
And even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day,
I will not fret for his presence is here.
His timeliness is all-important;
Will keep me in balance.
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity
By anointing my mind with his oils of peace.
My cup of joyous energy overflows.
Surely, harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruit of my hours,
For I shall walk in the peace of my Lord and dwell in his house forever.
The truth is, friends, you’re going to be yoked to something in your life. There is some kind of controlling entity in your life. It may be your own expectations, the expectations of your parents, the expectations of your boss, the expectations of society. You’re going to be yoked to something. Why not choose the easiest yoke? Jesus’ yoke! The easiest yoke! If God likes you and you like you—if somebody else, unlike you, that’s their problem! God says, «My yoke fits perfectly. It’s based on your shape.» Well, of course, it’s based on your shape! He made you!
Now notice, he says, «Take my yoke.» That’s an exchange! What that means is I take off the one I’ve been carrying—that yoke where I’ve been yoked to the world’s expectations—what everybody expects me to do—and I put on the yoke of God! What Jesus says! You know what the truth is? Most of you don’t have one yoke on you; you’ve got a dozen! You have more than one yoke around your neck right now! You’re trying to please everybody, and those yokes are piled on top of each other! No wonder you’re tired! Because so many people have so many expectations in your life! Take them all off! Jesus says, «Let’s do an exchange! I’ll take all yours; you take my one, which is easy and light, and I’ll pull the load with you!» You see, when we think that the answer to our emptiness is escape—I got to get to Tahiti—God says the answer is not escape! The answer is give up control! Give up control! Every time I give up control, my load gets lighter, and God gives me peace!
Step Four: Learn to Trust
Quickly, the last couple of points: Number four: He says, «Come.» Then he says, «Take.» And then he says, «Learn.» And here’s the thing: learn to trust! Learn to trust! This is the antidote to anxiety—worry less and trust more! This is the fourth thing Jesus says to do—the rest of that verse! He says, «Learn from me; for I am gentle and meek. I’m humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.» You know, Jesus modeled how to live with peace and purpose. And the fourth step to refilling your spiritual and emotional tank is to follow Jesus’ model. He says, «Learn from me!» Watch how he lived and do it the way he did! Learn from Jesus! Now, if you circle the word «learn, » learning is a process! You don’t learn it overnight! You didn’t develop your overloaded lifestyle overnight! You’re probably not going to get out of it overnight! But you’re going to learn to trust.
What can I learn from Jesus? Well, he says you’ll learn how to be gentle and humble. «What? How’s that going to help me? Learning to be gentle? That doesn’t seem like it’s going to help me! Because I’m stressed out and tired!» Why is gentle and humble so important? I mean, Jesus didn’t say, «Learn from me, and I’ll teach you how to have endurance and stamina.» That’s what I would expect him to say, right? «Learn from me, and I’ll give you endurance and stamina.» No! He says, «Learn from me, and I’ll teach you how to be gentle and humble.» Why? Because—listen very closely—the two biggest causes of overload and stress and emptiness in your life are aggression and arrogance.
What? Let me explain! Aggression is we don’t want to wait for anything! We’re aggressive! We don’t want to pause for anything! We don’t want to consider anything! We don’t want to be patient for anything! We want to just jump right in, and we get over-committed because of our aggressive behavior! It’s the opposite of being gentle! Being aggressive rather than being gentle, and that puts stress on you! And the other is arrogance. What’s the sign of arrogance? When we try to control everything! I don’t know if you realize this or not, but your ego—my ego—is responsible for more stress and overload in my life than I realize! Your ego is responsible for more stress and arrogance in your life than you realize! You try to do it all! That’s ego; that’s pride; that’s arrogance! You try to have it all! You try to please everyone! You try to act like Superman or Superwoman! That’s arrogance! The more arrogant you are, the more egotistically driven you are, the more stressed you’re going to be! The most stressful people I know are also the most arrogant people I know! The antidote to the two biggest causes of stress in your life are gentleness and humility!
Gentleness and Humility
What does that mean? It means I need to remind myself every day: I’m not God, and I’m not everybody’s savior! And neither are you! What was Jesus’ secret of peace? He only did what the Father told him to do, and he didn’t worry about the rest! If you go read the book of John, twelve times in the book of John, he says, «I only do what the Father tells me.» And he says, «Follow my model! Why don’t you start trusting God? Try trusting God!»
Let me give you a couple verses! Look at this on the screen! Proverbs 20:24: «Since the Lord is directing our steps, why try to understand everything that’s happening along the way?» Hey! We keep trying to figure it all out! It says, «Why don’t you just trust God?» Learn to trust! Psalm 142:3 says this: «When I’m ready to give up, » maybe you’re feeling that way, «when I’m ready to give up on my marriage or my job or anything else, when I’m ready to give up, he knows what I should do!» Learn to trust!
How do I trust more? Look at this verse on the screen! Romans 10:17: «Faith comes by hearing the word of God.»
Steps Five and Six: Daily Refill and Connection
That leads us to the last two steps! Number five: Start every day by refilling my tank! Start every day by filling my tank! Now, we’ve talked about this so many times, I don’t feel like I have to go into it in any detail. But I’m talking about a daily quiet time! I’m never going to stop talking about this because it is the key to stability and the key to energy in your life! Matthew 6:6—Jesus says this in the message: «Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can, and the focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace!» Start every day by filling my tank! Remember, I tried to teach you over a year ago: HW FW and HW LW—His Word first, word last! Start the day with God’s word; end the day with God’s word!
Finally, one more step—number six: Stay connected to my spiritual family! That’s going to keep you refueled and keep you from going empty! You’re here; you’re connected to your spiritual family! Your family is Saddleback Church! Hebrews 11:25 says, «Let us not give up the habit»—circle the word «habit»—«Let us not give up the habit of meeting together as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more.» Why do I need to be connected? Stay connected to my spiritual family! Because when you’re empty and when you need to be filled, here’s what God says about the church. Last verse on your screen—it’s on the screen! Ephesians 1:23: «The church is Christ’s body, and it is filled»—that’s the opposite of empty! «It is filled with Christ, who completely fills»—which is the opposite of empty! Everything else you empty, you need to be at church! You need to be with your brothers and sisters in Christ! They will help refill your emptiness!
Closing Invitation and Prayer
Okay, let’s wrap it up! What’s weighing you down right now? The problem with your children? The problem with your finances? The problem with aging parents? The problem with your health? The problem with COVID? The problem with—who knows? I don’t know! But I will tell you this: God brought you here today so he could say this to you! Let’s look at the verse one more time on the screen! I love this in the Amplified translation. Jesus says this to you: «If you’re empty, come to me! Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest»—that’s soul rest! «I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls! Take my yoke on you; partner with me! And learn from me, for I’m gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest, relief, and ease, and refreshment, and recreation, and blessed quiet for your souls!» Isn’t that beautiful—the Amplified translation? Friends, it’s hot, but that doesn’t make this any less important! This is the most important invitation you will ever receive in your life, and you took enough time to show up to let God give it to you!
Here’s the invitation: Get dissatisfied with the way you’ve been feeling! Come to Jesus—not to anything else! Come to Jesus! Give up control, learn to trust, and stay connected! Let’s bow our heads. Have you ever come to Jesus? The starting point in unloading is to talk to Jesus about what you feel empty about. Tell him exactly how you feel! Tell him what’s frustrating you! You know, sometimes even your best friends don’t want to listen to your burdens, but Jesus will never ignore you! He wants to be your partner; he wants to be your friend; he wants to be your pace-setter! And he is making you the most amazing offer in the universe, and no one else can offer it: «Come to me, and I will give you deep soul rest!» Pray this prayer:
Dear God, just say in your heart: Dear God, I’m tired of being tired all the time! I’m tired of trying to control everything! I’m tired of a life without rest and peace! Forgive me for all the times I’ve turned to other things for relief instead of You! Today, I’m coming back to You! I want You to be the pace-setter of my life! I want to stop trying to control everything in the first place! Forgive me for my arrogance and my aggressiveness! Forgive me for not being patient! Forgive me for allowing my insecurities and my ego to take on more activities than I could possibly manage! Forgive me for pridefully overlooking my schedule and overloading it! Forgive me for filling my life with less important things so I have no time for what matters most-time with You! I want to learn from You, Jesus! I want to learn from Your model! I want to learn to be gentle and humble like You, so I can have the peace that You modeled! Help me to take these steps this week! In Your name, I pray, amen.