WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.599 So we've been looking at a whole bunch of different stories going through this book of Exodus, which is the second book of the Bible. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.240 And so we've been seeing story after story. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:21.600 In these stories, we've seen this journey of these people, which were God's people is the nation of Israel, the Hebrews, and these are the people that eventually God sends Jesus through, births Jesus out of. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:30.000 And so these are the people that God decides he will communicate to the world, what he is like, who he is, how he regards us, what he thinks about us. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:36.880 And so we've been looking at story after story after story and looking at what these stories have to say about God, what these stories have to say about us. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.920 And so we have another story today in Exodus 18. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:41.200 Great story. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:43.520 And I'm excited what this story can mean for you. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:49.679 We get one sort of dominant life principle in this story that just jumps right out. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:56.960 And this principle is something that can cause actually a lot of pain in our lives if we don't understand it. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:04.560 It can cause exhaustion in your work, it can cause exhaustion in your parenting, in your school. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.840 It always leads to the same place. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:16.480 If you don't understand it, all the different roads you can attempt and travel, you'll always end up at the same place, and that same place is exhaustion. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:21.439 Now we try to work around this principle because we just don't want to believe it's true. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:26.159 We just don't want to believe that this could actually be true about us. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:31.439 Maybe it could be true for other people, but surely this couldn't be true about us. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:42.079 We just don't want to believe it could be true for us and for our ability to parent or our ability to be good at work or our ability even to be good at the Christian life. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:48.959 And so what also can happen with this, if we don't understand it, is we can live more and more isolated lives. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.239 We can pretend to be fine and we aren't. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:57.280 We can attend church but never be a part of a church. 00:01:57.599 --> 00:01:58.959 Anyone know that feeling? 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:00.079 Anybody done that, right? 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.400 Like you attend, but you're never really a part of that community. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:05.920 Okay, so what am I talking about? 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.800 Well, the the principle that's going on here with Moses is nothing groundbreaking. 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:11.599 You already know it. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:14.479 When I'm gonna say it, you're gonna go, okay, yeah, I know that. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:15.280 That's not groundbreaking. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:17.039 Didn't have to come to church to hear that one. 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:24.800 And here's what it is going it alone, going it alone will wear you out. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:27.599 Pretty simple, right? 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:31.120 You you've probably figured that out in some regard in your life. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:38.240 So Moses is sitting there and he's resolving all these issues for all these people, and he's like the only one doing the job. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:47.120 He's the only one doing the deal, and he's going it alone, making all these decisions of all these people from morning till evening. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.719 And he's wearing himself out. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:54.080 Going it alone will wear you out. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:01.039 All right, so we're gonna reread some scripture as how we like to do it as as we teach, is I'll reread some of the scripture that Sam read. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:04.560 It kind of just helps us uh as we work our way through the passage. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:08.000 So Exodus 18, 14 through 18. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:14.719 When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, What is this that you're doing for the people? 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:16.240 He's like, that doesn't even make sense. 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:18.879 Like you you don't have good organization here, Moses. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.879 Why do you sit alone and all the people stand around you from morning to evening? 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:27.039 And Moses said to his father-in-law, well, because the people come to me to inquire of God. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:34.800 When they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:39.199 Moses' father-in-law said to him, What you're doing is not good. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:50.560 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:54.960 You are not able to do it alone. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:59.360 Like, nothing like a father-in-law, nothing like an in-law to deliver that news to you, right? 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:01.840 Like you're looking forward to your in-laws coming to town for Christmas. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.120 That's not what you want to hear. 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:06.960 Like, sweetheart, under your house, you can't do it alone, you're not doing a good job. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:07.759 All right. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:20.639 So this week I heard um, I was watching a TV program, and it was a it was an uh alcoholic who's in recovery, and he was he was telling the story about the first time he went to AA. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:32.639 And he was telling the story about the first time he stood in a group of people and he raised his hand and he said, My name's Randy, and I'm alcoholic. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:39.360 And he said it was the most powerful moment of his entire life. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:57.839 Because for the first time in his life, to have overwhelming acceptance, and not judgment, but acceptance for who he was and the struggle he had, and to be able to walk into that group and say, My name's Randy. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:01.199 I've got a big, big destructive problem. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:08.879 And that there was no judgment, and there's acceptance of him in that confession. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:13.199 You know, a people that wouldn't judge them, but they want them to get better. 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:20.879 And I'm watching this, I'm hearing him talk about it, and he starts crying, and I'm I'm watching, I'm going, like, like that's what that's what we're doing. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:23.600 Like that's what that's what this is. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:31.199 Like, yeah, we're starting trying to build a student ministry, yeah, we're trying to raise a little more money to get that building going, which by the way, we start some uh demolition tomorrow. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:31.839 It's very exciting. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:36.720 We have a dumpster in front of our new building, it's very exciting, as a progress is beginning. 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:38.879 You know, yeah, we're doing those things. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:39.920 And why are we doing it? 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:49.519 We're doing them so that you and your neighbor can come into a group of people and raise your hand and say, My name is Randy. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.160 You don't have to say Randy, you can say your name. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:54.399 And I've got a problem. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:57.279 I'm addicted to myself. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:07.759 I am bent inward, and I'm selfish, and I'm impatient, I'm lustful, I'm greedy, I have idolatry, I'm a sinner. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:23.120 I'm apathetic toward God, I have a hard heart, and that there's not judgment because everybody else in the room, they also are holding their hand up, going, I'm rust, and I'm addicted to myself. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.040 And I'm not perfect. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:30.319 In fact, I'm quite a sinner, and I am wearing myself out. 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:34.079 So a few points to kind of organize this. 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:41.839 Uh the first point, point number one, is this there are things in our lives that we have to get done by ourselves. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.040 Let's just be honest about that. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:49.120 Like, there are things that we can do by ourselves, and there are things that we should be doing by ourselves. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:51.839 Sometimes we just need to get something done. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:52.399 Right? 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:55.680 Like at work, in your family, in a relationship. 00:06:55.839 --> 00:07:00.319 Sometimes there are just things you need to do, and you can do them. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.279 Sometimes you just need to do the studying, you need to make the grade. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:08.240 I'm being very practical here because what Moses was doing in one regard was very practical. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:10.319 And sometimes we just need to do these things. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:12.399 Sometimes we just need to wake up and spend time with the Lord. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:15.199 Sometimes we just need to turn the TV off and go for a walk with the Lord. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:18.480 Sometimes we just need to do these things, and we can. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:37.439 But even in that, there's a point, there's a point where we move past being responsible, and all of a sudden, the same things, the same project, the same job, or the discipline, the pressure, the relationship, the same thing can become too heavy. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:38.399 Right? 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:52.720 So, point number one is that there are things in our lives that we should be doing and we can do by ourselves, but yet there's point number two that can come pretty quickly, and that is that there are times when the things in our lives become too heavy. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:54.000 Right? 00:07:54.160 --> 00:08:03.759 And this is when dad shows up, Jethro, father-in-law, shows up, says, You and the people, you will certainly wear yourselves out. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:06.879 This way you have this setup for your life. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:12.720 You're gonna wear yourself out, for the thing is too heavy for you. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:15.279 You are not able to do it alone. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:24.160 So Jethro tells Moses, go find a whole bunch of able men, go find these guys, like find great guys, like there's other people other than you that can do things. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:27.199 Find other great guys, give them authority. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:31.120 Let them go help, let them help other people, free you up. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:37.600 So Moses finds these guys and he makes them chiefs and they get organized, and this thing starts to kind of work itself out. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:42.399 So all the burden's not on him because he was wearing himself out. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:46.879 See, you can carry, you can carry some things forever. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:48.240 I was thinking about this week. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:50.559 I was just trying to, how do I break this down and think about this? 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:54.799 So it's it's toward the end of fall, so most of the leaves are down. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:09:00.080 Um and so I on in my little yard, I can handle my yard. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.759 Like I got my blower, backpack blower, nothing like an engine on your back. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:04.480 I've always said that. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:09.279 And I mean to have a gas-powered engine on your back, there's just something cool about that. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.919 And so I can handle the leaves in my yard. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.039 That that's not too bad. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:18.879 I can get out there, you know, once, twice a week, blow the driveway, blow off the grass, blow it into the little islands, not a big deal. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:27.120 Now, if um, Ted, he's to the left, John's to the right, and Rob, say they call me, said, hey, can you can you blow off our driveways and yards also? 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:28.240 I could probably feel that. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:29.200 That wouldn't be too hard. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:30.399 I could fit that into my life. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:32.480 It wouldn't be a horrible nightmare. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:39.759 Now, if Bob and Greg also called, they're further down the street, if they also call and said, Hey, can you can you get our yards also? 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:41.919 Okay, yeah, all right. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:44.879 So that's like Saturday's gone, like just all of Saturdays. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:45.440 Okay. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:55.200 Now, if Brad, Brad calls me, he lives down the street, if Brad calls me, and then uh Scott, he's on the corner, say Scott calls me, and Mike, Mike, you live right around the corner. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:59.120 Say they all call me and they say, Hey, can you also get our yards? 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:01.679 And say Jordan, he lives across the street. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.799 Jordan and Brandon, say they call also. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:08.320 Now all of a sudden the thing that I could do is starting to be overwhelming. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.080 Now let's say everybody on church street, right? 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:18.080 Like the whole street, they're all like Russ is the guy, just one guy and his blower, you know, and maybe at this point, maybe I could do it. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:19.519 Maybe I could do it. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:22.879 Like if I don't, I quit my job and this becomes my job. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.240 Like just to blow the leaves off of all of this. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:29.360 Maybe, maybe I could do it. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:34.639 Now, now now let's say Kennesaw Mountain, a little park ranger calls me up. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:37.120 Hey, can you blow the leaves off all the trail system? 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:43.919 Like, okay, so I got my yard, I got the whole my street, I got all the church street, we got all of Kinesaw trail system. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:45.759 I can't do that. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:47.039 I I can't. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:51.679 There's no, I have no ability to do that. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:52.240 Right? 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:56.720 Like all of the sudden, something I could do, it goes past what I could do. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:59.440 There, you hit a point, it's just too much. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:00.879 That's where Moses is at. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:11.519 He's hitting a point, something he could do, and he was doing it, but then he's hitting a point, and Jethro sees it, and he's like, No, you you can't you can't continue down this path. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:14.320 It's too much, it's too heavy. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:16.399 The weight's too much. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:18.159 It's gonna crush you. 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:20.799 It's gonna crush you. 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:21.279 Right? 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:23.440 And the lesson is that sometimes you just need help. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.159 Like the thing is too heavy. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:32.240 And this is where the story can lead us to something very important because there's stuff going on inside of us. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:42.320 If we let this story lead us to something important just about our natures, is the fact that there's stuff going on inside of us that we were never meant to carry alone. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:56.720 We were never meant to carry that pressure that you feel from work or that relationship or school or that friendship or that pressure you feel, you were never meant to carry that alone. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:01.519 That feeling that, oh, surely I will fail at this also. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:04.720 You're never meant to carry that alone. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:18.480 That anxiety that is so strong that you wake up at 3:30 in the morning and you can't shake it, like uh the amount of rattle going on in your head and you can't go back to it, you were never meant to carry that alone. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:30.159 That obsession about eating and what you eat and all the calorie counting and the exercising or the achievement and how well you've done, or even your achievement within spiritual walk and how good you're doing and everything. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:38.320 All of that obsession, that amount of just manic obsession, all of that, you're never meant to carry that alone. 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:50.080 And the the thought that maybe God could never really accept me because of that thing that was I did back then, that shame, that mistake. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:52.720 You're never meant to carry that alone. 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:54.639 The thing is too heavy. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:56.399 So we find a small group. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:01.759 We find a friend, we find a counselor, we we find a listening spouse, right? 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:03.919 It happens over and over again for me. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:05.679 This is what it looks like for me. 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:07.519 I relive failures. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:16.639 I relive some shame, I f I have feel some pressure for the future, for something, whether something's gonna happen or it's not gonna happen, or what's gonna happen, right? 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:19.840 I feel something from the past or the present or the future. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.320 I feel some amount of pressure, and then I wonder, right? 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:26.159 I'm just like you, I wonder, can I let my wife into this? 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.200 Like, do I talk to her about this? 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:32.000 Can can I can I let a friend into this? 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:37.679 Like, can I call a friend and just out of nowhere unload this on them? 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:41.519 Like, like, oh man, what's going on? 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:42.159 How are you doing? 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:42.720 I'm good. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:45.200 Can can I answer, I'm not good. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:47.519 Not doing good, not a good day. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:48.639 Not going well. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:50.159 Like, can I can I answer that? 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:51.200 Is that okay? 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.559 Can I let our elders into that? 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:02.080 Or do I smile and just perform? 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:09.519 I see, sometimes we just need help carrying stuff in our lives, stuff that's just going on inside of us. 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:12.799 And that's what the fellowship of believers is for. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:23.679 So sometimes we need help carrying stuff in our lives, but here's the deeper thing the story can lead us to, and that is that we also need help carrying our lives. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:28.320 Like the essence of our lives, our lives themselves, the core of our lives. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:29.600 That's point number three. 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:37.840 Our lives, the essence, the core of our existence is too heavy for us to carry. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:44.399 So in in our sin, so not sins, right? 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:50.720 We have sins, behavior, all the mistakes we do, the things we do, the lying, the cheating, the stealing, right? 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:52.879 All of that sins, bad stuff. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:15:03.759 And then we have sin, the condition, kind of the disease, that the inward bent away from God, that we just tend to be toward ourselves, like that condition in that, we love to self-justify. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.320 So I'm not gonna lean towards what God has done for me and Jesus for my justification. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:13.039 I'm gonna lean towards what the work that I produce into this world as my justification. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:23.919 And we can do ridiculous things and go to ridiculous things to justify ourselves and our existence, and then even within religion, our righteousness before God. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:28.799 And this is us trying to lift something that's too heavy. 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:31.200 We can't carry it, but it's us trying to. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.720 So I read this week, I read this phrase and I loved it so much. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:39.200 It says that the boys in the basement eventually come out. 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:42.559 The boys in the basement eventually come out. 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:43.679 Here's what this means. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:58.399 So we like to play hide and go seek in our house, and so we'll start playing, and so I have three little girls, and so out of these three little girls, the middle girl, the five-year-old, she will go find a hiding spot and she cozies up. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:04.960 I don't know what's going on, but she finds a dark corner and she gets cozy and she curls up. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:06.320 We can't find her. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:08.960 I mean, this is over and over and over again. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:10.559 I mean, she is good. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.120 Not only that, she is patient. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:19.919 I don't know what's going on in her mind when she gets into that little place, but she can wait it out. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:27.120 We look, I mean, it gets to the point where you're like, she falls asleep, she like like did somebody kidnap her, like is she still in the house? 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:28.720 Like, where did she go? 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:34.240 Like, we just start yelling at her name, and eventually, finally, finally, she always comes out. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:35.919 She always comes out. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:37.279 Right? 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:40.240 The the boys in the basement eventually come out. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:46.080 Here's what it means: the motive behind that self-justification project. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:50.879 Like, why do I love getting all those likes on Instagram? 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:55.279 Why do I love getting all those likes from that report at work? 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:01.600 Why do I love getting that nod from that woman or that man or that girl or that boy? 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:03.840 Why do I love all of that? 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.839 Well, I'm self-justifying my existence. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:14.880 And that's too heavy for you to carry because it doesn't end. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:22.079 It's a terrible burden to wonder if you're really good after all. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:26.319 And then turning to carry that load on your own. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:29.599 And our human nature says that we have to carry it. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:34.640 We need to carry it in order to be accepted, satisfied, forgiven, we have to carry it. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:37.359 This is the curse of the fallen nature. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:38.880 That we do this. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.720 Listen to this at Psalm 42, 5, read it this week. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:48.480 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.480 Well, we we know why. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:52.319 Because you're trying to carry it all. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.680 That's what leads to this sort of feeling of downcast. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:57.519 You're trying to carry it all, trying to be your own savior. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:04.880 Then he answers himself: Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:06.000 So back to Moses. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:07.440 Let's jump back to the Moses story. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:08.000 Back to Moses. 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:09.359 Moses delegates. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.039 That's what we see in the story. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:12.880 Any delegators? 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:13.599 Right? 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:15.599 I'm a delegate delegator. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:16.720 I can delegate. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.440 I love to delegate and then not work and watch. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:20.559 And I'll just be honest. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:22.720 I'll confess that in front of you. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:23.519 I love that. 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:25.599 Like I can delegate and I can supervise. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:26.160 I love it. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:26.640 Love it. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:27.279 Love that. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:28.559 Because I'm sort of bossy. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:29.359 It's got that going on. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:30.720 Got that covered, covered. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:35.039 Even if I'm quiet, even if I'm quiet, I'm really sure I have the best way to do something. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:39.119 So, uh, but here's what I'm painfully learning about myself. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.279 You might be like me. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:47.119 Even when I delegate, I love to keep the weight. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:48.640 Right? 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:58.720 This is like when you ask your kid to load the dishwasher and you circle back around about eight times because you're so nervous they're gonna drop that dish. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:04.880 And then once the kid leaves the kitchen, you redo it because they didn't do it right. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:05.599 Right? 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:09.680 Like you delegated, but you never let go of the weight. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:10.960 Right? 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:13.920 You carried the weight the whole time. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:17.200 And we do this in our spiritual lives all the time. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:18.319 All the time. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.559 This is the tension the psalmist feels. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:22.559 This heaviness, this downcast. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:23.680 And here's how we do it. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:39.599 Every time we nod at Jesus as being our sufficiency, as the soul work to make us beloved and healed and whole, and then we look to our production in the world to feel our anxiety and our fear, that needy place inside of us. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:46.799 Every time we look for any production that we produce into the world, we're nodding at Jesus, then yet we're really turning to our production of the world. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:50.640 Whenever we do that, this is our self-justification. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:56.240 This is us delegating, but never letting go of the actual weight. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:59.359 And here's what we're learning. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.440 Going it alone will wear you out. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:07.279 And I just love that this dad, right? 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:10.000 I mean, this is what this is what Jethro is to Moses. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:12.240 He's like a dad. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:13.680 He's just showing up. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:16.000 He's just saying, like, just stop. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:18.880 Like, this doesn't even make sense what you're doing. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:21.279 Just stop being a savior to everyone. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.960 Stop being your own savior, trying to make it all happen, trying to solve every problem. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:25.839 Just stop. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.839 Now, now I'm not your daddy. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:29.440 Fill you in, by the way. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:31.519 Just to let you know, not your dad. 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:38.079 But if I could just speak something to you this morning, I'd just be like, just stop. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:46.400 Like there's stuff in your life you were never meant to carry alone. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:49.039 Find a small group. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:56.000 Find a friend, find a spouse, find a pastor, talk to me, find a counselor, find somebody. 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:59.279 There's stuff you were never meant to carry alone. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:12.720 And furthermore, your life, your very existence, your value, your right standing with God, forgiveness for all that sin, the condition and the behaviors, the shame of that, all of that, you were never meant to carry that alone. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:14.640 It's too heavy. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:16.880 There's only one place to find help for this. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:23.839 Pastor Paul Walker, he words it this way: For God has given us his Son who has loved us in our sin. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:32.799 Jesus took the deadly wound of judgment on himself so that we could be delivered into the judgment-free world of grace. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:38.559 We have been given the reward of life that Jesus earned for our sake. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:41.119 Now here's how Jesus invites us, right? 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.279 Like the really busy Moses-like people, we are, that's what we are. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:57.200 And here's how Jesus words it to us Come to me, Matthew 11, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.839 Take my yoke upon the rest. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:10.480 Upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:12.640 See, this is so good. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:19.039 See, a a rabbi, a rabbi's yoke back back at this time, his yoke was his application. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:21.119 It was his teaching, right? 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:25.440 It represented the sacrifices and the burdens required by his followers. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:32.960 So all these scribes and these Pharisees, they had turned the law, they had turned what it meant to follow God into a bunch of rules and regulations. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:39.519 It was sort of like get it all right, like get your act together, and then you're accepted by God. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:43.920 But see, Jesus fulfilled the law. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:47.279 He lived rightly what we don't. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:51.519 He took our sin upon himself and gives us his righteousness. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:55.599 Our standing is secure, our standing secure every day, every moment. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:57.599 You're always accepted by God. 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:04.960 And this truth, that truth, this gospel is the very thing that creates life in dead places. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:08.400 It's the thing that creates gratitude and places of apathy. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:14.079 And it's also the thing that creates pursuit, a desire to pursue God wherever there's hesitancy. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:20.640 Because he chose to carry the weight for you. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:29.279 So we don't just nod at Jesus and kind of move on just like into our self-justification projects in the world and religion. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:34.880 We delegate and we hand over the weight. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:42.640 So, my brothers and sisters, may you find yourself tired of carrying the heavy load. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:51.359 May you be meek and humble and ready to receive the rest of the yoke of Jesus. 00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:53.039 Let's pray together. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:03.279 Father, thank you that you know us. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:09.759 You know our Moses tendencies to just keep going it alone. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:18.960 And that we will wear ourselves out in areas of our lives that we need to delegate and areas of our lives we need to reach out to a friend. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:34.400 And even in the core existence of our lives, we will try to carry the load of justifying ourselves because we love to be saviors, and we confess this. 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:47.759 We confess that we are inward bent, sinful, to deify ourselves, to deem ourselves enough apart from you, and forgive us for this. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:54.400 It leads to no freedom, no peace, no forgiveness. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:25:00.720 Lord, would you give us the faith we don't have to turn to you again? 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:06.319 Maybe turn to you for the first time, placing faith in you and not in ourselves. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:11.759 Would we see the great sufficiency of Jesus? 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:19.440 That He is sufficient for all the righteousness that I am not, and that He is enough. 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:28.799 And may our hearts be forever grateful and changed to live lives that honor you and love people. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:30.400 In Jesus' name. 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:31.119 Amen.