How to Stop Carrying Pressure That's Crushing You

Hey, we're Todd and Julie Mullins, Senior Pastors here at Christ Fellowship Church, and we're so glad that you're tuning in for service today. Yeah, Christ Fellowship is one church that meets in lots of different locations, including right here with you. Yeah, and our prayer for you today is that you would sense God's love for you. See, I don't personally know all that you're going through today and what you're up against, but God does. And He hears your prayers, and He knows your name, and He's right here for you today as you call out to Him. Yeah, thanks again for joining with us today. We love you, and we're praying for you. God is more in store than you have in mind, and I believe so much more that it's going to blow your mind. Oh, welcome to Church, Christ Fellowship, and we serve the one true living God, and He is worthy of our worship today. Lift your voice and let's sing together. And He died, and He rose, those walls are rival now. Remember those giants we called death and grave. They were like mountains that stood in our way. But He came, and He died, and He rose, those giants are dead now. This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us. This is our God, this is what He does, He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave, let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. Oh, yeah. Remember that fear that took our breath away. Oh, things so weak, things so weak that we could barely breathe. Let it rain, let it rain, everywhere, everywhere it spills. Now those altars, now those altars in the wilderness. Oh, it's a story, a story of His faithfulness.

Never once did He fail, and He never will, oh, He never will. This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us. This is our God, this is what He does, He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave, let heaven and earth proclaim. Oh, this is our God, King Jesus, yeah. He pulled me out of that pit. He did. He did. Who paid for all of our sins? Nobody but Jesus. Who pulled me out of that pit? He did. He did. Who paid for all of our sins? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh. Yahweh. Who gives the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus. Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh. Yahweh. Who gives the glory and praise? Nobody but Him. This is our God. This is who He is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does. He saves us. He bore the cross. He did the grave. He let heaven and earth fall at His feet. This is our God. King Jesus. Holy King. We proclaim with you. Holy King Jesus. This is our King Church. The one we pray. The one we worship. The one we adore today. Come on every voice, somebody in the room. Let me down. Faithful to generations. So why would He fail now? He won't. Oh, He won't. He won't. Oh, He will not fail. He won't fail. Oh, He won't. Oh, He won't fail. I still got joy in chaos. I've got peace that makes no sense. So I won't be going under. I'm not held by my own strength. Cause I built my life on Jesus. He's never let me down.

Faithful in every season. So why would He fail now? He won't. He won't. He won't fail. Oh, He won't. He won't fail. Come on with confidence today. I am not shifting. Oh Lord. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Come on. What can you say that gives you Jesus? I'm gonna make it. Oh, I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it through. Cause I'm standing strong. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it through. Oh, my house is built on Jesus. ♪ This is my world, this is my place, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, there's nothing like it ♪ ♪ But I'm on this, I stand ♪ ♪ Everything around me's shaking ♪ ♪ I never let go now ♪ ♪ I do not fail in Jesus ♪ ♪ He's never let me down ♪ ♪ I ain't gonna do that again ♪ ♪ So I would keep it there ♪

Come on, everybody, sing it today. He won't. He won't. He won't stay. No, he won't. He won't stay. He won't stay. He won't stay. He won't stay. Come on, let's give you faith today. He will not fail. We have a victory in Jesus. Put your faith in him. Look to him. He's the author and finisher today, amen? Because I put my faith in Jesus, all faithful in every season, through every generation today. Can we just remind you what we sang first? This, this is our God. We aren't looking at a man. We aren't looking to a government. We have a king, a perfect king today. And his church all over the world gathers to lift up the one name church. We're gonna have a seat for a second. When you came in, you would receive the elements. We're gonna take communion today. Remember, everything that we're singing today, the perfect king that we have in Jesus.

If you're new with us, you're visiting, maybe it's your first time here. We're just so glad that you came through the doors. Maybe you're watching online for the first time, and we want you to know that if you've declared Jesus Lord over your life, we wanna invite you into this beautiful holy moment where the church remembers that we are no longer far off, but now we are included as sons and daughters because of the work of Christ. I was reading something a couple of weeks ago in preparation for Easter, and it has not left me. And I wanted to share with you today, this is out of Isaiah 53. At verse eight, it says, "'Unjustly condemned, he was led away.'" Now remember, this is before Jesus even is on the scene. And it says, "'No one cared that he died without descendants.'" And I'm like, why does that even matter? Just mentions that he is the end of the line. Says, "'No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short.'" And then it goes on to verse 10, "'But it was the Lord's good plan to crush him, and it caused him grief. Yet when his life is made as an offering for sin, he will have many descendants.'" Just a couple of verses before, it marks that he had no one, but because of this,

he would then go on to have many descendants. "'He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees that all is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous. Oh, the cost that we would be sons and daughters today.'" So we give him our life. He's worthy of it. And we give him our attention, and our worship, our song, our very lives. So the band's gonna play a little bit. Just take a moment. Would you remember that he died alone, but that he would be surrounded by sons and daughters of God, the perfect king, that we would know him for eternity? Amen. Just take a moment, remember him, and then Pastor Cole's gonna lead us through the elements. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Jesus be the name ever on my lips It's sweeter every time that I call on it

There's just something about your name There's just something about your name There's just something about your name That makes me cry holy There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name Jesus you're worthy You have been the friend who never left I won't forget your faithfulness Jesus be the name ever on my lips It's sweeter every time that I call on it There's just something about your name There's just something about your name There's just something about your name That makes me cry holy There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name Jesus you're worthy There's just something about your name Jesus be the name ever on my lips There's just something about your name There's just something about your name That makes me cry holy There is no other name There's just something about your name That makes me cry holy There's just something about your name That makes me cry holy

There's just something about your name There's just something about your name That makes me cry holy There is no other name There's just something about your name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name

There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name ♪ Your Name can heal, Your Name can make a storm be sealed ♪ ♪ You never fail, You never will, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ The bread of life broken for us ♪ ♪ The wounded and the worthy won ♪ ♪ The mercy left is soon to come, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, the King of all, forever great ♪ ♪ The Lord who will forever reign ♪ ♪ The Name above all other names, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the Name, oh, Jesus be the Name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the Name that gets all of the glory ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the Name, oh, Jesus be the Name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the Name that gets all of the glory ♪ Come on, we give Him glory. Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away, bring you with great joy into the presence of God. All glory to Him, to Him. All majesty, power, and authority are His, before time, in the present, and beyond all time. All glory, honor, and fame is His. Go all over this room, are you invited to praise? Sing, my whole life for Your glory, my whole world for Your glory, every day for the honor of Your Name. In these five days, tell a story, let it be of You only, every day for the honor of Your Name.

My whole life for Your glory, my whole world for You only, every day for the honor of Your Name. Just in five days, tell a story, let it be of You only, every day for the honor of Your Name. Come on, sing it again. Oh, how I love You. Oh, there's no one like You. Oh, how I love You. Jesus, I love You. Oh, how I love You. Oh, with everything. Oh, how I love You. Jesus, I love You. My whole life for Your glory, my whole world for You only, every day for the honor of Your Name. In these five days, tell a story, let it be of You only, every day for the honor of Your Name. Oh, what's used to say, Jesus, I love You. My soul, what's used to say, Jesus, I love You. My soul, what's used to say, Jesus, I love You. My soul, what's used to say, Jesus, I love You. Come on, all over this room today,

would you just begin to tell Him you love Him? Would you give Him praise today? Even you online today, come on, join the church with praise and honor. Oh, His presence, He is worthy today, amen. Hey, we've got a special member of our house who's gonna be bringing the Word. But before we jump in, Pastor Todd wanted to just tell you that he loves you today. So church, go ahead and have a seat and let's get into the Word of God together. Hey church, hope you're having a great weekend. Julie and I are here in Stockholm, Sweden, where Julie is preaching for Sisterhood Sweden. It's going great. And we're preaching here this weekend at church, but we always miss you when we're not with you. As I was praying about who was supposed to bring the Word of God today, the Lord laid on my heart, Pastor Tyler, who looks after all of our young adult ministries across the church. Tyler, Loves the Lord, loves the Word of God. He is a mighty preacher. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to lean in. I want you to have your hearts open to receive. Give him a few amens along the way

and help me welcome to the platform, Pastor Tyler Gay. Well, good morning. Good morning, Church family. It is an honor to bring the Word of God with you this morning in week four of a series entitled Pressure Points, as you have heard. If you've got a pulse, you've got pressure and I've got a pulse and three kids under six years old. You know what I'm saying? This is my family. They are the loves of my life. I've got a daughter that is eating me out of house and home. So pray for us. You know, planning your life in an incredible place does not exclude you from pressure. Can you say amen? Because the reality is from the moment the alarm clock goes off in the morning and you swing those feet over the bed to get out and spend time with Jesus. Come on, the kids are now up. And they're not just up, they're now sick, but they weren't sick last night. So you're trying to figure that thing out and now they're not just sick. The doctor's appointment has been scheduled and you're dealing with that, but now it's time to work. So you get ready, you're going to work. Now you're on I-95. And there's traffic and all these things are happening

and you're thinking about the days that's ahead of you and all the work and all the things happening in the world and all of the pressure in your life. It's just building and building and building all before 9 a.m. to get to the place you're going. Can anyone just make it stop? We all have, we all have pressure. Regardless of the age or the stage of life that you might be in this morning, the reality is if we deal with it, even though it's daunting, it doesn't have to destroy us. It can deepen us. I remember a couple of years ago when I turned 30 years old, I wanted to do something that stretched me and scared me a bit. And so I did exactly what probably most of you would do. I signed up for the Palm Beach County Marathon, okay? I went from couch to marathon in six months and I had my eyes set on a time. I'm gonna run this time, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. And the day came for the race and the first 13 miles were going smooth. I was cruising at the pace that I set until as I was running, I pulled up this terrible leg injury that left me hobbling and limping all the way through the finish line. And the aftermath of this race left me injured for six months. I was running at a rate that my body wasn't ready for. And to be honest with you, one of the most frustrating parts

about this entire story is yes, I finished. All of the pressure that I was experiencing in this moment was 100% self-inflicted pressure. And I wonder today, wherever you find yourself, if some of the pressure that we're experiencing in our parenting and maybe in our finances, in our work-life relationships, a lot of the pressure is also self-inflicted. It's not always coming from out there. Sometimes it's coming on from in here. If you go with me this morning to Exodus chapter 18, we will find an individual who's dealing with precisely that. He is a leader of 2 million people. He is a father and he is a husband and he is on the edge of burnout. Exodus chapter 18, starting in verse 13, we will read. It says this, it says, the next day Moses, can you say Moses? Moses, he sat to judge the people and the people stood around Moses from morning to evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw that he was doing for all the people, he said, what is this that you are doing for all the people and why do you do this alone? And all the people stand around you from morning until evening. And Moses said, dad, no, he said, he said, well, the people, they come to me and inquire of God

and when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another and I make known to them the statutes of God and his laws and Moses' father-in-law said to him, what you are doing is no bueno, it's not good. It's not good. You and the people, you're certainly, you're gonna wear yourselves out for this thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do this alone. Now obey my voice, I will give you some advice. Don't you love when unsolicited advice comes your way? Here Moses is, he is past the window where Jethro is like, hey bro, I'm kind of watching, I'm waiting, will you invite me in? He's like, bro, you have exhausted the window where I'm being waited to offer some advice. He's, I'm gonna give you some advice, God be with you. Then he goes on to say, hey, you need to get some men of integrity, men who are cable and help them carry the load with you. Then verse 22 says this, and let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, if you do this, God will direct you and you will be able to endure. And all these people will go to their place in peace.

Tell the message today is when God leads. when God leads, because what is obvious from the onset of this passage of scripture is that if anybody's feeling pressure, it's Moses. If anybody is under the weight of what it feels like to feel pressure, it's Moses. And he needed Jethro from the outside looking in, someone who loved him and cared enough about him to help him come out from the unnecessary pressure that Moses was inflicting on himself. In the same way, I believe that the Lord wants to help us step out of unnecessary pressure in a couple areas in our lives, because we all deal with pressure. It's the unnecessary pressure that it's time for us to come out of. I'm talking about today, the pressure of priorities. Priorities, come on, the things we believe matter most and that get our time and attention. Consider Moses, he's leading 2 million people, okay? I got a family of five, and it's hard enough. He's leading 2 million people. He's a dad, he's a husband, he's got a lot going on. Jethro notices, hey, what you're doing isn't great. Go get some help and put them in place. And what does the Bible say that Jethro says to him? This is fantastic. He says to him, he says, every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves.

It's important for us to understand that Jethro is not saying, hey, Moses, you're wasting your time on things that don't matter. No, he's not saying that. But he is saying, hey, I think you might be spending your time on things that don't matter most for you. And I think that's our heart intention, right? I mean, I don't wanna be a dad that spends time on things that don't matter. I think all of us, if we would peel back the honesty of our heart and go, man, I wanna spend my life on the things that matter. But if you're anything like me, you can drift into giving your time to places and spaces and things that maybe there's no eternal impact. You know, research shows that the average American spends over five hours a day on their phones, scrolling, that's a nice email. Sending, that's a funny video. I'm gonna send that to 10 people. Five hours a day on our phones, which is actually higher than the global average. So congratulations, you're totally average today, okay? This is a thing that we experience in our life that we navigate spaces and places. And I can be sitting on the couch around my kids. And before long, I've spent 30 minutes watching pizza review videos. And I'm like, can't get that time back.

But here's the truth. All of us, we spend hours and hours and hours doing things that probably, if we could evaluate them, are lesser things. We all got 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week, all of that. And so I think for us this morning, if we're feeling maybe some unnecessary pressure in the area of our priorities, it's worth asking, do I have the right priorities? Do I actually have the right priority? Do the things in my life, are they actually the right things? Because if everything is a priority, then well, nothing is a priority. I think this is why Jesus, he tells us seek first the kingdom. Pastor Todd reminded us last week, we seek first the kingdom, because Jesus knows that we don't naturally just drift into the right priorities. Typically our default are the wrong ones. And it's not that we spend all of our time on things that aren't good, but I think that we can spend our time on things that are not the God thing. Something that's been really helpful for my wife and I in our marriage in different seasons where it feels like things were fuller and faster is we would get some three by five cards,

lay them out on the coffee table, and we would write all the rules and responsibilities and all of the things that we've made a priority and committed to. We put them on the table and go, in light of this season, is this thing still a priority? Can we stack hands? Is this a yes for this season? Yes, okay, let's keep that. Okay, what are the things maybe that is a no for right now that we need to say no, it's gotta go? A couple of non-negotiables for our family. We're gonna be in the house of God every Sunday. We're gonna be tithing. We're gonna be giving. We're gonna be praying over our kids. These are non-negotiables. Here's something that maybe is a not right now. My three-year-old, he probably doesn't need to be in karate lessons three times a week. It's not never, it's just maybe not now. Do we have the right priorities? But the double click down on that is this, not just do you have the right priorities, do you have the right priorities in the right order? How many of you know that we can have the right priorities in the wrong order? Moses, he's got his priorities spread real thin, and Jethro comes and goes, like, yo, bro, can we evaluate how you're spending your time

and make sure that you're valuing your time in the places that matter most for your life? We gotta have them in the right order. And for me, right, so I love Jesus, so I'm in a relationship with God, so I'm first and foremost a son. I'm a follower of Jesus, and then I am a husband, and then I'm a father, and then I'm a pastor. Those are kind of the roles and responsibilities of my life. Pastor Ryan. said something to me about eight years ago that I'll never forget, he added a tagline. It's in that order always. So for me, relationship with God, and then I'm a husband, and then I'm a father, and then I'm a pastor, in that order always. Because if you get any one of those things out of order, it's not in order. If I don't spend time with the Lord, I'm not gonna be the husband I need to be. If I'm not the husband I need to be, I'm not gonna be the father. And what could be really easy, could be really easy for us to maybe prioritize our children over our spouse, or our work over relationship with God. And all of these things are gifts and good things, but we gotta make sure that all things are in order. I don't know what the priorities in your life are, but I know that if we will evaluate,

do I have the right priorities, and then double-click down, do I have the right priorities in the right order, it's going to alleviate some unnecessary pressure, some things that we've consumed into our life that maybe it's not a never, it's just not a right now. Jethro, he's helping our guy Moses out in this space. He deals with the pressure of his priorities so that he could really speak to the pressure of pace. Talk about the pressure of pace. Moses, he's going out of space that's just not sustainable. Like a hamster on a spinning wheel, he was helping people from morning until the evening, sitting by himself. Yeah, okay, yeah, okay, go do that. Your cat died, I'm so sorry, okay? Can we help him out with that? Morning to evening, I don't know if he got a bathroom break, I don't know if he got a lunch break, all we know is the pace was punishing. Jethro, notice that this pace that you're running at, it's unsustainable. He was operating at a rhythm and a pace that God had not set. Just like me trying to run this marathon at a pace that I set, I was running at a pace that my body wasn't ready for. Moses, he's going from morning to night, and he's trying to do the best he can do,

and I believe that's true for a lot of us. We are in a space where we're trying to make the most of our lives, but this is something we need to understand. Just like Jethro says to Moses, you and the people, with this pace, you will certainly wear yourselves out, for this thing is too heavy for you. See, when we go at a pace that God has not set, it can lead to burnout and destruction and despair. So a question this morning that I think is worth asking all of us, regardless, again, of your age or stage, is this, is real rest, can we say real? Real. Real rest a part of my rhythms. I'm talking about real rest, I'm not talking about busy rest. You know, you can go do something, and you can binge Netflix, and you can eat cookies and cream on the weekend like me, and be like, man, I feel so rested. No, we have to enter into real rest. He's operating at a pace that is unsustainable, and this is a gift that God has given for you and I. This is important for us to recognize that God, he has actually gifted us 52 PTO days a year that many of us never cash out on. You know what I'm talking about? I'm talking about the Sabbath. Come on, we work six days, and then we rest one day.

This is not, hear me, this is not a knock against hard work. I believe that followers of Jesus should be some of the most hardworking people on the planet. We know whose we are and whose we're working for. But there is a time for work hard, and then there's a time for deep rest, and he's operating at a pace that is unsustainable. Jethro goes, bro, you're under so much pressure. Let's pull out from this pressure of priorities, get them in the right order and in the right place, and then let's deal with this pace that you set for yourself that God never asks you to run at, and when you do that, you'll understand that rhythms are important, and rest must be a part of it. Is it a part of yours today? I know we got stuff, we got kids, we got businesses, we got a lot of things going on, but God has not designed us to be on 24-7. That's like when you don't sleep, you're like, huh, yeah, yeah, okay. No, we need rest. The Sabbath is a gift, and the workforce that we're in and the culture we're in, it can try to convince us that we need to get ahead all the time, work, hustle. I'm just so busy, I'm working, and what can happen is, this is what our weeks look like, all righty?

It's like this, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We wonder why we're getting burned out, we wonder why we're frustrated, we wonder why our marriage is struggling, we wonder why our kids are going through stuff, we wonder why we're feeling agitated, bitter, there's resentment, there's things we're dealing with, and before long, we start to burn out. And I think that we find ourselves in those places because we forget we are not human doings. You're a human being. We need rest, it's real rest. I'm talking about real Sabbath rest where you learn that God is your provider and not your paycheck. And this is the cadence of the kingdom. God offers us a gift of the Sabbath, it is not a burden, it is a blessing. We work hard and then we rest well. And here is a counter-cultural move for us to practice. Resting one day a week. Here's what it looks like for those who are followers of Jesus. Ready? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, rest. Remember that God's in control and we're not.

There's one God, I'm not him. He's my source, he's my provider. Look at what he did last week. Look how he provided, look how he stepped in, look how the bills came through, the marriage got better, look at all the things God did. I'm getting ready for Monday. Here comes Monday, let's crush it for the good of others and the glory of God. Here comes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I'm resting. I remember that God is in control. He's doing work behind my back than I could ever imagine. And even when I'm resting, he's still working. It's in this space, in the slow, that you remind your soul that we don't have to do this nonstop, this is what the world does, and we can go, let me invite you in to rest. And then as it gets into the next week, we're gonna crush it for God's grace and his glory. Why? Because it is so important that we recognize we are meant to follow the order of God, and if God rested on the seventh day, I'm going to as well, okay? Come on, what would it look like if you and your families, you started to order your life around biblical rest, where you go, man, this week was wild, and it was crazy, and you're sitting around the table talking about God's provision and his miracles,

Pastor Ryan talking about how to disciple kids and teach them the things of the Lord. Around the table, you go, hey, mom and dad, we ain't working today, we're not opening email today, we're gonna rally around the fact that God has given us rest, we're gonna enjoy it, we're gonna go snorkeling, we're gonna eat good pizza, come on, there is rest for you today. A lot of the pressure that we're up against is self-induced because we think that God somehow can't do more with our six days than we could do with our full seven. Moses, he's going at an unsustainable rate and place, and he helps get lifted from this, but here's the thing, even if we deal with our priorities, you get the right priorities in the right order. You deal with the pace. There is a pressure that lies even deeper than that. There's a pressure that a lot of us are unaware is driving us. There is a pressure that keeps many of us up at night. There's a pressure that keeps us from changing our pace, from reordering our priorities. I'm talking about the pressure of perception. What are people thinking about me? What if I change things in my life? What if I actually start coming to church on Sunday with my boss and family? What are they gonna think about me? What do they think about me right now?

The power of perception. Moses, see, Moses, he's not just leading. He's carrying expectations. He's carrying the needs of the people. Jethro goes, bro, why are you doing this? And he says, well, the people, they come to me. In other words, if they don't come to me, who are they gonna come to? And if I don't lead, then what's gonna happen? Mind you, Moses has dealt with his own variety of insecurities. You read in multiple places in the biblical narrative that the people of Israel are not such Moses fans all the time. I mean, he's doing his best to lead two million people through the Red Sea and through the wilderness into the Promised Land, and the people are hungry, they're tired, they're thirsty. He's like, who is this guy who's left us for dead? Let's get a new leader. Let's go back into slavery. And Moses is like, guys, come on, I'm trying to do the best I can in God's forest. And don't you forget all the things he's done. I mean, Moses is literally, he feels like probably one bad move away from being kicked out. He's carrying all of these responsibilities. He's carrying all of the perceptions of people. And I wonder how many of us in the room today, and if you're honest,

when we talk about adjusting our priorities, you're like, yeah, that sounds good. And yeah, maybe there's some things in my pace that might need to change, but I don't know if I can deal with the perception of people. I just, I'm constantly thinking about what people think about me. And if I made the wrong move, and I know for parents, and if you've got a business, you're constantly feeling like you're needed all the time. Just one bad call away from being dropped, or being written off, or you don't know what people are saying behind your back. And I'm like, man, the pressure, this is the pressure that can keep your head up at night. This is the pressure that can keep you from playing conversations over and over again, going, man, did I communicate myself well? Did my heart come through? Did my kids know what's going on? Is everyone okay? We can be paralyzed by the perceptions and opinions of other people. Moses is most definitely in this place. And here's the truth. We also, we're not designed to constantly be trying to please everyone around us. And this is not to say that the way that people perceive us doesn't matter.

It does. I want the world to perceive that I love Jesus, and I'm filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I most definitely, I care about how my wife sees me, and my children, and those closest to me, and my pastors, and community. But here's the problem. A lot of us can fall into the trap. We get into this cycle of constantly thinking about what other people are thinking about us. And if we do that, we will be led by people who were never meant to lead us. Power of perception, it can put you. under such weight that you're just afraid to make a move. Perception does matter, but it cannot be the driver. You know what it should be? What does God think? What does God think? Is God pleased with me? Is God pleased with some of my choices to change my priorities and restructure some things around his rhythms and take rest and I'm gonna adjust my pace? Is God pleased with me? This is soul-freeing. Oh my goodness, this is one of the most freeing things in the world when you're constantly surrounded by pressures and expectations and what are people thinking? Am I measuring up? Am I good enough to go? Well, let me just, let me just, let me just rest.

God, what do you think? You say I'm the head, not the tail, above and not beneath. Okay, I'm good. So I think Paul would give us a beautiful passage of scripture that I think is a very important question for us to propose in Galatians chapter one. He writes this. Am I now, am I now seeking the approval of man or of God or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Here's the deal. When we get our eyes off of ourselves and everyone around us and we look to the Lord and say, God, I wanna live a life that honors you and pleases you and by default, when we get our eyes up, the people around us will be the beneficiaries of us being people who please God because he is first things first. I think the Lord wants to rip off the fear of people and here's the truth. Two things can be true at the same time. You can wanna please everybody and please nobody at the same time. And that's why we're going, let's lift our eyes up off of this unnecessary pressure and here's Moses. He's leading, he's in the trenches, he's got pressure morning to evening, he's the guy judging. Finally, he's in a position to change some things but here's the question, who helped him up out of it?

Jethro. Who's your Jethro today? Who's the person that's got an outside vantage point? Who's the person that can see some things that nobody else is seeing? What's fascinating to me and when you read the Bible, Moses is like, he's like that guy, okay? Like God speaks to Moses as a friend speaks to a friend face to face. So Moses is not unacquainted or unfamiliar with the voice of God, with encounters with God. I mean, he's pretty used to God speaking to him but what's fascinating in this text, there's no evidence that God says, yo, Moses, bro, you're killing yourself, change some things, no. What does he do? He sends Jethro. Why is that? Because I believe sometimes the loudest and most clear way that God knows he can speak to us in a moment is through the right people. Do you got some Jethro's in your life that can see some of the pressure you are under and go, hey, let's alleviate your priorities and let's change some things and let's get you running at God's pace for your life and make sure that you are healthy for the long haul? Moses, where would he be without his father-in-law? He could have worried about the perceptions

of all the people and here's why perception still matters. His father-in-law saw what he was doing. He perceived you're not okay. And you know what he does? He obeys. This is why we gotta have the right people who can speak into our life, who see into our lives and when they speak a hard truth or a truth that we're not used to hearing, we take it and we evaluate it and we pray through it and when it's godly, we take steps forward into that space and we change some things. Where would Moses be without Jethro? I don't know. But Jethro was a part of his family and speaks something profoundly helpful into his life and then he concludes with this statement. Exodus 18, he says, if you do this, if you get all the people, you change some things, you work your priorities, if you do this, God will direct you and you will be able, can you say able? You will be able to endure and all these people will go to their place in peace. So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses under self-inflicted pressure. He's got priorities issues, he's got pace issues, he's dealing with perception of all the people and now Jethro comes along to help him address some things

that I believe God would have us today, evaluate our priorities, get them in right order, go at the pace that God has set for us and learn to please God above anyone in our life and when we do all of that, when we do all of those things and we get the right priorities, when we handle the pressure that we're meant to carry in the right way and we run at God's pace, not out ahead of him, not faster, not in the opposite direction, we go with the cadence and the timing and the rhythm that God has set. When we do that and we please him and you still feel pressure and you still feel pressing, can I submit to you today that there are... some things in our life that only pressure can produce. You might feel like you're being pressed, but I'm here to tell you you're not crushed. You might feel perplexed, but you're not in despair. You might feel persecuted, but you're not abandoned. You might feel struck down, but you are not forsaken. Why? Because when God leads, he sets the priorities. When God leads, we go at his pace. When God leads, we live to please him above everyone else. Could it be that God is forming something in you to do something through you for the world who is waiting and watching to see how these Christians carry pressure? I believe this is true. When you let God lead, pressure doesn't have to break you. It can build you. It can build you into the man that God's called you to be, the wife that God's called you to be. When you get that in your spirit that when God is leading, you can start to say in every moment of pressure, I'm built for this. If God leads me and I have pressure that he hasn't alleviated, could it be that there is a purpose in the pressure and I can have peace and I am built for this thing? I'm built to be a parent in this season. I'm built to lead in this season a company that God put in my heart, but it all comes down

to understanding that when God leads, when God leads, I'm built for it. When God leads, I'm built for it. When he goes ahead of me and he sets the pace and I get the draft behind me and go, God, is this the pace you have for me? Because I'm feeling stretched. He's saying, yeah, yeah, okay, okay. Work hard. Six days. All right, I'm stopping. Stop with me. We're going to deal with our family. There's some things over here I want you to address over here. When God leads, we're in the sweet place where we know that he knows what he's doing. I injured my hip because I ran at my pace. I had a goal. I had a dream. I had a vision. And guess what? You know, I didn't submit my marathon plans to the Lord. A lot of us are treating life like that, but I wonder today if God's knocking on some hearts going, hey, you've got some priorities that need to be worked around. You got some priorities that need to be in the right order. You're running at a pace that if you don't slow down and consider all the things that are happening, you're going to leave a wake of destruction. But the good news is when we let God lead, we can truly believe I'm built for this. I'm built for this. With Christ in you, you're built for it. What's the thing right now that you don't believe you're built for? I'm here to tell you if God is leading the pace and God is with you, you're built for it. So when you step into the workday tomorrow or to parent or to discipline and you're feeling fatigued and tired and you're feeling the pressure, just remind yourself the Holy Spirit is with you and you can say I'm built for this thing. I'm gonna get through this thing. I'm gonna be stronger. I'm gonna remember that the pressure that God is entrusting me with, I will steward it because it's not here to break me down. It's here to build me up as God leads. To shut this thing down today, I wonder where this message finds you today. I wonder if you feel like a mouse on a wheel. You know, work has been speeding up and traveling a lot. Things have been distant at home and you know right now you're like, man, I've got some maybe priorities I need to reestablish. I've got some things in my life that I need to make sure are in the right order. I don't know what it looks like for you, but I believe the Holy Spirit wants to bring some clarity and address some of these areas as we move forward into the rest of the week. If you could bow your heads and close your eyes with me, all of our locations today, wherever you're at, wherever this message finds you and you feel like you're experiencing pressure, I'm here to tell you that there is a God who wants to lead you. He wants to lead you. He wants to help you set the right priorities. He wants to help you get them in the right order to find real rhythms of rest. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. He wants you to look up.

So right now, maybe what are the areas in your life you're like, oh man, the Holy Spirit's speaking to me about that. I know I've been a little bit more absent from home and my kids are feeling it. I know I've been putting more time at work maybe than I should be, but now my soul is experiencing it. The good news about serving the Lord is every day is a new day. His mercies are new every day that we go, God, forgive me for the moments that I lead the pack. If you have an area where you need prayer, remember it's around priorities or it's around rest today. In any of these areas that you know that you need prayer for today, can you just slip up a hand and let me know who I'm praying for? I want to pray that God would help lead us in this season. God, I thank you for everyone that sounded my voice. God, who is faithful, that you're with us. I thank you that you lead the pack, and I pray that you would help us be in positions to let you lead, that you would lead, that you would set the pace. With every head bowed and eyes closed, if you're in the room tonight, today, and you haven't actually made room for God to lead, you've never given your life to Jesus, I'm here to tell you, until we put Jesus in his rightful place, until we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, God won't be leading, because he wants to be invited into your life and sit on the throne of your heart, and he will set the pace. He'll help you, he'll dust you off, he'll give you new life, and if you're in the room today, and you've been far from God, and you're not just running at a different pace from God,

but maybe you feel like you've been running in the opposite direction, I'm here to tell you that the God we serve in Jesus is a turn-it-around kind of God. He meets you right where you are, but he will not leave you where you are, because the grace of God is chasing after people today, and I'm here to tell you, if you've never given your life to Jesus, but you know today's the day, I need to get my relationship right with God, I need to give my life to Jesus, I need to stop doing things my own way, I need to turn and let Jesus lead me. Wherever you are today, in any of our campuses, and you're saying, man, I need to give my life to Jesus, and let God lead. At the count of three, what I want you to do is, I just want you to lift up your hand, and every room in our teams will be able to follow up, because God loves you, and he's chasing you down, so at the count of three, if you're saying, man, I want to give my life to Jesus, raise your hand, one, two, three. Yeah, hands in the back. I need to give my life to Jesus, and I need to let Jesus be Lord of my life. Amazing, let's pray this as a community of faith today, believing that God is in our midst with some passion. Say, dear Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for me.

I believe that you rose again. I invite you in, to make you Lord of my life. Forgive me of all my sin, and make me new. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, and lead my life. And I'm gonna follow you at your pace, with your priorities, to please you and you alone, for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Come on, can we give God a hand clap for everyone who made that decision today? Come on. Amen.