God's Way to Relax
Psalm 23:2

Stress Relief from Psalm 23

Are you a workaholic? You do not have to raise your hand. Just point to the person who it represents!

• Are you always in a hurry?

• Is your to do list always unrealistically long?

• Do you use days off to catch up with unfinished work?

• Has more than one person told you to slow down?

• Do you feel guilty when you relax?

• Do you have to get sick to take time off?

• Do you wear a beeper to church?

• When you unwind after work by watching Tom Snyder?

If you are burning the candle at both ends, you are not as bright as you think you are. Many people think that if they surrender to Jesus Christ, they will have too much to do, and they are already too busy.

Beware of the barrenness of the busy life.

This verse tells us of REST and REFRESHMENT.

God is interested in your rest and refreshment. God wants you to stop working sometime. If you give your life to Jesus Christ, He is not looking to just add some more things to your schedule, but He might take some things out of your life to slow you down. Most people feel like they are too busy. Leisure time is becoming more and more rare.

This is a prescription for people under pressure.

1. REALIZE Our Position in Christ

Do you know why many people overwork? It is because they confuse their WORK with their WORTH.. They think that if they work and achieve a lot, then they are WORTH a lot. In America we get our primary identity with WHAT WE DO. Therefore, many confuse WHAT THEY DO with WHO THEY ARE. If a person says, “I am a brain surgeon.” We think, WOW, he is worth a lot! If a person says, “I am a parking lot attendant” we may not think they are worth very much.  

Many seek to prove their WORTH by OVERWORKING. They seek to bolster their self image with status, money, power, possessions, but in reality they are insecure and afraid. Remember, The LORD is my Shepherd. When does the Lord become my Shepherd? When the Shepherd is my Lord! When He is my Lord, I have an awesome position!

Read 1 John 3:1-3. Realize your position in Jesus Christ! You are a SAINT, a SON, and a PRIEST and a KING; you are IN CHRIST JESUS, you are made in HIS IMAGE. Much is said today about self-image.

Do you know how to have a healthy SELF-IMAGE of yourself? REALIZE how much God loves you, and BY LOVING GOD! What we really need is an understanding of our POSITION in CHRIST, we do not need to love ourselves more, that is selfishness, what we really need is to LOVE GOD with all our heart.

You are valuable regardless of what your work is. God says you are! God loves you because He does. He loves you because He is love. God’s cannot love you anymore than He already does, and He will never love you any less! His love for you is everlasting. His love for you is immeasurable. There is no depth, height, breadth, or length to God’s love. God’s love is not performance based.

Because of God’s love for you, you can be born again, and when are you are a BORN WINNER!

Because of His love for you, You are in an ETERNAL and FULLY SECURE relationship with God.

Because of God’s love for you, you can REST and not be afraid what man does to you! You can RELAX by realizing your position in Jesus Christ!

2. ENJOY the Presence of God

The Psalmist says, He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters. If you were a sheep, you would say, “It doesn’t get any better than this!” You would say, Let’s do green grass and still water. It is a picture of REST, of REFRESHMENT, while eating in great peace. The way to have true peace of soul is to spend time with God. Enjoy fellowship with God. Enjoy His presence!

Philip Keller wrote a beautiful book on Psalm 23. He was a shepherd, so he gives a lot of insight into this Psalm. He says that that is impossible for sheep to lie down unless four requirements are met.

A. Freedom from fear: Even a stray jackrabbit can cause a flock of sheep to stampede!

B. Freedom from Friction: Sheep are like humans: tension, rivalry, and competition exists within a flock of sheep, just as it does in the human race. Some sheep are arrogant and domineering, others are jealous. Sheep STRUGGLE FOR STATUS within the flock! Some covet all the attention and food.

C. Freedom from Pests: Parasites and bugs, flies and other insects can drive a sheep crazy. When they are being “bugged” they will not lie down. The shepherd would anoint the head of the sheep with oil to keep the flies away from the nose and face. What is bugging you? What irritations and frustrations cause you to not “lie down?” What keeps you from the still waters?

D. Freedom from hunger: The sheep will not lie down if they are hungry. The pastures are full of green grass, for the shepherd has done well in clearing the pasture of rocks, of pulling out unwanted roots and stumps, and of plowing and planting the seeds that will feed the flock. Green pastures do not happen by accident! So our Good Shepherd clears the life of the rocks of unbelief, He tears out the roots of bitterness, and he breaks up the proud heart and sows the seed of His precious word.

Now, what is the key to being free from these things? The presence of the Shepherd! His presence drives away enemies; His presence puts an end to all rivalry, His presence anoints the head of the sheep; His presence comes to us in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 30:15; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Enjoy fellowship with Him. Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. If you see righteousness, the result of that will be PEACE. The result of peace is quietness and assurance for ever!

Do you remember Adam, that he walked with God in the cool of the day? The Psalmist says, Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

The first step to enjoying fellowship with God is having your sins forgiven. The second step is reading and meditating upon the Word of God.

3. LIMIT Your Labor

If you want to learn to RELAX, take a break from work. You have to take time off! Let the Lord lead you to lie down and to drink beside the still waters. We live in a workaholic society! There are two groups who especially fall prey to overwork:

1.    Self-employed people. 2. Single parents.

Your best requires rest! You can get so many irons in the fire, the fire goes out!

Even under the law, God commanded the people of Israel to take a day of rest in order to worship him. God calls it the SABBATH. Sabbath means a day of rest. You were made to work, but not to work all the time. You have to take time off, or you will fall to pieces. We are not under the Law, but it still states a needed principle for our health.

A lady called a pastor and said, I tried to get through all day to you on Monday. The pastor said, Monday is my day off. She said, Well, the Devil doesn’t take a day off. He said, Well, if I didn’t take a day off, I would be just like the Devil!

What should you do on your day off? Don’t catch up on work that you have not finished. God did not make man for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath he made for man. Man NEEDS a day of rest. On your day off:

A. REST YOUR BODY. You deserve a break today, but on your day off, don’t eat McDonalds! A lot of people on their day off go away every weekend and are all stressed out driving home late Sunday night and are beat on Monday morning!

B. RECHARGE YOUR EMOTIONS: Get still and quiet with the Lord. We need to rest so your soul can catch up with your body. Americans are always in a hurry; have you noticed? Spend time with your family. We don’t have a Sunday evening service, so you can spend time with your family.

C. REFOCUS YOUR SPIRIT: WORSHIP and FELLOWSHIP on your day off. People who say, “I just worship God at home,” do not understand the Bible.

In airplanes, they have compasses which need to be recalibrated regularly. Church is a time for you to get recalibrated, for you to regain proper perspective to the Lord, for your life. When you tune into God, He refocuses you and fills you with His presence and awareness.

Many take their day off and worship the SUN, they go to the beach and baptize themselves, they anoint their body, and lay down on some beach somewhere, but that is not the worship.

Be still and know that I am God.

Resistance to rest is a mark of immaturity. Little children do not like to take naps, and they do not like to go to bed at night. Spiritually, we are like little children. We do not want to come to church. We do not want to stop working. Many think, I do not have the time to LIMIT MY LABOR. If you don’t take the now, you will pay for it later on.

4. ADJUST My Values

Adjust your values to REST. Enjoy what you already have. Many people have beautiful homes, but they are so busy they do not enjoy what they do have. Stop struggling for status! We get so busy keeping up with the Jones, and just when we catch up, they take out a second mortgage, or else file for bankruptcy. Stop trying to impress other people with what you have. Stop trying to buy success, or stop trying to impress others around you.

Get this: Decisions are made on the basis of values; values are formed on the basis of our VISION. Who do we see?

Hebrews 11:27; By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Moses asked and answered this question properly: What is really important?

Jesus asked this question: What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36,37) Jesus tells us here what is truly valuable: not the things of this world: popularity, possessions, power, or ease; but eternal life.

Have you ever heard anyone say on their deathbed, “I wish I spent more time at the office.” No! They do say, I with I spent more time with my wife, husband, children, with church and ministry, and my God! Ecc.9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun…Spend time playing with your kids, and talking to your wife; and then play with your wife, and talk to your kids!

Sometimes when someone dies, you hear it said that they died PENNILESS, as if it is some sort of tragedy. When you think about that, To die penniless, to me, what a better time to go! When you write your last check, you die! I CALL THAT TIMING! Have you ever seen a hearst pulling a U-Haul?

(Spend 15 minutes per day, one evening per week, one day per month, one weekend per quarter)

5. EXCHANGE Your Pressure with God’s Peace

He restoreth my soul. As you learn to relax, God can bring peace to your soul.

There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.

Haven’t you tried your way long enough? Why not try God’s way? You have tried man’s methods, now try God’s methods. Exchange your pursuits for God’s peace. People are so busy pursuing all sorts of avenues in order to find some satisfaction: We all wonder: What can quench my thirst? Some pursue their careers, some knowledge, others science, others art, some sports, community activities, literature, others travel the world, some take up hobbies. When all is said and done, these things will still leave you hollow and hauntingly empty.

Matthew 11:28,29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

There is physical fatigue, but also emotional fatigue, relational fatigue, and spiritual fatigue. More than take time off, you need to exchange your pressure with God’s peace. Yes, HE can restore your soul.

Is there peace in your life? Does your soul need to be restored. Are you chronically fatigued? Are you constantly frustrated and irritable? Maybe you need to believe in Jesus today as your Savior. Maybe you need to refocus and RELAX in the Love of the Good Shepherd. Maybe you need to commit yourself to be faithful to church.

Pray through these points:

Realize Your Position in Christ: You love and care for me! Enjoy His presence: To sit at your feet. Limit your Labor: To refocus on You. Adjust your Values: To decide what is really important. Exchange your Pressure for His peace: To come to you and rest.