Summary of Hear and be still
Preamble
Wes starts by talking about being busy. He points out that we are busy because it is self induced where we pack our schedules. And because of our own desire to be busy we purposefully decide not to include time with God. That is the blunt reality.
The Linde’s roof starts to leak
Wes tells a story about a leak that occurred in his townhouse. No one could figure out where the leak was coming from. It took 5 weeks to figure out that this leak came from the roof. This caused a time of restlessness in Wes’ brain.
Restlessness – a time of mental unrest
Wes gives several examples of restlessness. Times when we are experiencing a lack of mental peace. Wes’ experiences anxiety regarding returning items to a store. He also hates wasting time to returning those purchased items. This pent up restlessness can cause us to become grumpy (at least it does to Wes).
An analogy of the Indy 500
Wes provides an analogy that we are a race car speeding around the oval track and God is standing at the side of the track and as we go by he attempts to deliver a message. Yet we can’t hear him because we are too focused on driving our race car around the track — essentially go nowhere fast.
Being still before God – Psalm 46:1-11
Wes reads Psalm 46:1-11 and Isaiah 40:25-26 from the Bible. Wes starts discussing the concept of a two-way relationship with God. We can approach God through Jesus. Wes reads Matthew 11:28-30 from the New Testament, which again states that Jesus is the only way to find God. Jesus will also join us in our life (“being yoked together”).
A relationship with Jesus is based on grace
Jesus’ message was revolutionary at the time. When Jesus delivered his grace-filled message the current spiritual leaders of the day were delivering message of task-based religious traditions (Obeying rules). Jesus’ message is still revolutionary!
Burning the candle at both ends
Wes takes a candle and burns it from both ends. We are all familiar with this metaphor. Wes then takes an oil lamp. An oil lamp has a reservoir where the fuel of the lamp is held. Wes reminds us that we need to constantly fill our spiritual reservoir.
The checklist at the end of life
When we are about to die will we be going through a checklist of the things we have done. Will there be another person who will be assessing our life based on society’s list of important things to do? Even if you do go through a personal bucket list, or if society is judging your life’s achievements, it doesn’t matter! There is only one thing that matters: coming to God through Jesus and dwelling g in God’s presence.
How to focus on God
- Dwell in God’s presence
- Listen to God’s voice
- Focus on God’s beauty
- Taste His goodness
Wes’ spiritual health check list
- Do I feel like my soul is depleted?
- Do I have too many distractions in my life?
- Do I have a healthy view of God? (Eg: an unhealthy view of God is only coming to him with a request list).
About this Message Series
This is a message in a series called Hear & Obey. This series was started in January 2017.
About the Speaker
Wes LindeWes has been with Southridge since 2012, bringing with him a refreshing enthusiasm for youth and young adults. He enjoys drinking coffee and hiking; combine this with a hatred of completing forms and you’ve got the makings of a legendary pastor of youth and young adults. He and his wife Christy have 4 absurdly adorable children. If Wes could be any fictional character, he’d be Aragorn from Lord of the Rings.