Getting some balance back in our lives is a challenge for a lot of people.  Either we’re doing too much, or not enough and somehow, life’s out of kilter.  What we need is some refreshment for our souls.

The last thing that most of us suffer from is a lack of information – the whole world is screaming for our attention.  So all too often, the quiet assurance that comes from just a bit of peace and quiet eludes us.

Sometimes, it feels like we live in our world where everything and everybody seems to be screaming for our attention.

Take advertising – armies of creative people who think up new, (often), very clever ways of getting you and me to buy their client’s products. The supermarket where Jacqui and I go shopping has large advertising stickers glued to the floor in some of the shopping aisles.

So many people have the TV blaring every minute of every waking hour. So many people go to work, lurch from one meeting to another, without a break, without time to stop and reflect.

Our senses are being bombarded with thousands of messages and signals and … ideas and requests and directions, EVERY DAY!

And without knowing it, it ends up being a huge weight that we carry around. No wonder so many people are so exhausted. If only we can only put the weight down and take a break for a while. And then keep on going.

It’s true, isn’t it? The more that technology – like phones and then mobile phones and PCs and internet, TVs, DVDs and radio, all that stuff has made entertainment and information so accessible – the more we become slaves to them.

The more the cars replace public transport; we do this point to point rushing thing instead of, I don’t know, standing waiting for a bus for 5 or ten minutes at the bus stop.

There is some real upsides to all of those things. I mean I love the fact that I can watch T.V. and people can contact me on my mobile phone, it’s so convenient.

But we’ve lost something … we’ve lost the time. I don’t know, just to stop and think, to rest the senses, to rest the mind, to rest the spirit, to reflect, to imagine, to dream.

And the problem with so much of the stuff that we take in as entertainment or communication, a lot of it is really negative. You watch the news at night and 95% of the news is pretty negative. A lot of it is really frivolous (in sitcoms) on TV at night. Well, there’s nothing wrong with one sitcom, but if 70% of our entertainment is a diet of sitcoms, is it any wonder that people feel empty? That there is shallowness, that there is something missing? Some of the stuff that comes across as fact or entertainment, to put it bluntly, is downright destructive.

It’s like eating bad food or sweets all the time. Now that’s our condition, that’s what’s going on.

But there’s a flip side. So many people, so many of us believe in God. Surveys in the west say, 70+% believe in God. But I wonder whether it’s a real relationship, a real thing in life. Or whether for a lot of people, it’s a kind of, (I don’t know), a pie in the sky, when I die type – of distant sort of faith thing.

And we have this belief or this faith, on the one hand. And we have this whole need for rest and for peace and for joy and for wholeness, on the other. But a lot of people just never connect those two things. Never occurs to sometimes ask, to connect those two things in life.

One of the things I love about the Hebrew culture is that they think and they speak in pictures.

A few thousand years ago, there was a little passage written in book of Psalms in the Bible, Psalm 46. And the writer wrote something like this:

Even when the earth is shaking and the mountains are falling into the sea. Even though the waters are roaring and foaming. Even though the nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are tottering. Even in the middle of all that, God has something to say. 

The beautiful picture, and the Hebrew nation, those people were not a sea fearing people. So the idea of mountains falling into the ocean and waters roaring and foaming, well, that was a real fear – turmoil thing.

And the writer says, “In the middle of all the fear and turmoil that life brings, God has something to say with a voice that melts that all away.” It is like a river of gladness running through a city, with a power that stops wars and calms oceans. God has something to say into that condition and it’s this … “Be still and know that I am God.”

In that big cacophony of noise that we call life – where everyone is screaming at us and yelling at us. And things are happening and mountains are falling into the ocean, and people are criticising us and the entertainment is blaring at us, in the middle of all of that … a still, small, powerful voice, whispers into our hearts with unmistakable power … “Be still and know that I am God. Just stop and pause for a minute. And in the depths of your soul, right, right, deep down where you live, know that despite all the turmoil that you see around you, I am God and I am in control. I am here. I am with you. And I have the power to bring you peace.”

With that one small statement, God connects one of our deepest needs – the need for peace, for quiet, for assurance – with the spiritual reality of who He is … of his love and his power.

It seems so crazy to me that there is so many people who believe in God, who believe in Jesus and their idea is that, you kind of go to church on a Sunday and that’s it. You worship God in a sacred zone and that’s it. But that’s not in the Bible, that not what God says, that’s not what Jesus was talking about … “Be still and know that I am God.”

So often when the nations are raging around us, when people are raging, when things are difficult, when the babies crying, when there is tension in our relationships … we focus on those circumstances. That’s all we can see. It’s the stress, it’s the pain, it’s the fear, it’s the hurt and we react to them. Because we see the mountains falling into the sea, because we see the oceans roaring and foaming.

And God says in the middle of that, “Be still and let me speak to you, just in that little space and Know that I am God.”

In practice, I think that comes out in two parts. The first is carving out some time with God everyday to connect with him and that’s a decision. It’s your time. It’s your space. But it can be such a foundation, such a rock; to pray, listen and look. And then we go and live life out there. And the stuff that people and life throws at us, well, in the middle of all that we can experience, we can taste a peace that surpasses all understanding. A peace that guards our hearts and our minds because we know who God is in Jesus.

And my experience has been that in situations where (by rights), I shouldn’t have any peace, I look at it and I have the deepest peace and sense of security. Because earlier on in the day, in the morning (when it was still and calm and everyone was asleep), I took time to be still, to rest my spirit and my mind, my heart and my soul in God’s hands.

And then sometimes during the day when it is difficult, or I’m having a tough meeting; I just glance towards God (just a split second). I grab some stillness in a stressful moment. And in my soul, in my heart, somewhere I look at God and I get this quiet assurance, “Be still and just know that I am God. Just know that I am with you.” Or I’m riding the bus into the city, or I just take a break and go for a short walk, or whatever … a quick glance at Jesus, a pause, a look, a smile in the soul …

God wants us to know something … “Be still, be still and know that I am God.”

Have you ever noticed that people are busy racing around looking after Number One?  Very few of them ever stop to give us a hand.  In fact, when someone does, it can be so refreshing.      

In this clamorous, competitive world that we live in (you know what I’m talking about), this world where everybody seems to be looking after number one as their priority one, two and three in life. In that kind of world, it seems so rare that we meet someone who, I don’t know, who just comes out of the wood work out of nowhere to help us, to lighten our load, to open doors. Not because of what they can get out of it, but just because they see our need.

In fact on the rare occasion that somebody just blesses us like that, out of the blue, it’s almost startling.

I don’t know about you, but with me when someone these days just gives me a leg up – for no other reason than the fact that I need a leg up, well, that speaks so deeply to my heart. It motivates me, it encourages me. It’s just so refreshing.

I was in the UK recently at a conference, and I don’t know how much time you’ve spent at conferences. This happened to be a radio conference, a Christian Radio conference. And conferences are not only about going and listening to the speakers and learning (I did that and it was great). But they’re also about building relationships, networking, talking to people during the breaks, finding out about what other people are doing, making connections, meeting people and getting to know them.

And actually three days at a conference is really hard work. It’s great opportunity, but it’s hard work. I met so many people at this conference, probably seventy or eighty different people (at some stage). But there were two that really stood out for me. One of them was called, Andrew; he is a New Zealander, a ‘Kiwi’ as we call them. The other one, Joseph, a young African man.

Andrew was interesting. He works in the UK. He’s a really senior guy with a radio network. And in the world’s eye, in my eyes (well you know), he’s an important person. He’s an executive in a large radio network and yet somehow this Andrew made a point of connecting with me, of just encouraging me. We spent an hour and a half together. And he shared what was on his heart, what was his vision for his radio network, and he listened to me and after the meeting when we went our different ways. Andrew acted and because of him and because of what he did, one of our radio programs is now heard right across Europe just because Andrew was there and we connected.

The other one was this young man, Joseph. Joseph heads up a radio school and a media organisation in South Africa. I was really keen to meet his boss while I was at the conference. I wanted to connect with her and discuss some things, but she was really busy. She was talking for most of the conference, she was leading the television sessions and so we just couldn’t connect.

One morning (the last morning of the conference), Joseph and I ended up sitting next to one another at the breakfast table. I shared with him what I wanted to share with his boss, and he was so encouraging, so enthusiastic. He went back home to Africa (in Cape Town where he lives) and he sent me an email saying, “I really loved what we where talking about, I’m here for you, I’m here to make connections in Africa for you.” The guy follows me up; we talk regularly over the internet.

I mean what wonderful people – Andrew and Joseph are.

In contrast, so many of the other people that I met at the conference – everybody that I met, I got their business card and sent them an email and said, “It was great to catch up with you, nice to meet you.” You know some of the people didn’t even respond to that email! It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and yet Andrew and Joseph were the sort of people that said, “Look, come to me. Let me listen to you, let me help you. I’ll be there for you, I’ll push with you.”

Wow! Those guys really stood out head and shoulders above the other people. That doesn’t mean there weren’t other people that where were just as clever or more talented than Andrew and Joseph. The point was that these two young men decided to connect with me and to help me, to serve me.

Jesus, 2000 years ago said:

If you’re carrying a heavy load come to me and I’ll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me and you’ll see I’m genuine. I’m humble of heart and with me you’ll find rest for your souls, because my yoke’s easy, my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

This week on A Different Perspective we’re looking at our need to have times of refreshing.

It’s fantastic to get away from the grind and go on holiday. As I said the other day, my wife, Jacqui and I are just about to go and do that. To have some time on a place called, Lord Howe Island, which is the most beautiful and idyllic setting. We need that.

But we can’t spend our lives trying to escape from reality, always wishing that we could run away. I believe we need times of refreshing right in the middle of life. We have this deep need for rest and for peace, for refreshment.

On the other hand, over 70% of people (at least) in the West believe in God. And yet somehow, a lot of us never make that connection between this deep need for rest and for peace, and for renewal and for refreshment; and the belief that we have in this person Jesus, this God who sent his Son to die for us. For Jesus the two aren’t separate.

For Him, He came to make a difference in our lives and with this statement, “If you carrying a heavy burden come to. Come to me and I’ll give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me and you’ll see I’m gentle. I’m humble and with me, you’ll find rest for your souls.” And Jesus is connecting this beautiful reality of God with the difficulties and the trials and the realities of what we go through in life.

Okay, He said that 2000 years ago and the world was a slower place. It didn’t have all the pressure and the speed and the hype and the travel and the entertainment gizmos that we do today. But they had their burdens. They had their stresses. They had their heavy loads – they live in an occupied territory. The Romans were brutal, sometimes in the way that they administered their form of justice. They lived a subsistence lifestyle; food, money, famine, poverty. You know, it turns out that the burdens in life – heavy loads – are timeless. They’re global, they exist right around the world.

It doesn’t matter what our version, our brand of burden happens to be, like Andrew and Joseph in my life just a couple of months ago, who were so real and so practical and so decent and so loving.

Jesus said, “Come to me, come to me and let me help you. Let me give you some rest. Let me give you a leg up.” The picture of the yoke, He says, “Take my yoke upon you.” Here’s the picture, the picture is of two beasts of burden, two bullocks dragging forward a cart and Jesus says, “Look, come take my yoke. I’ll be on the other side. Let’s join together with this yoke and I’ll push in the same direction as you.” And when we do that, Jesus said that when we join in the same yoke, we’ll discover that He can teach us some stuff.

You know (traditionally), in that day when there was a new beast of burden being trained, they would yoke that beast with a beast that had been doing it a long time – with an experienced steady, strong bullock. And Jesus is saying, “Come on, I’ll be on the other side of this yoke. That load that you’re dragging forward, let me give you a hand. Let me push for you too. And you’ll find some rests as you and I are yoked together, shoulder-to-shoulder and we experience one another in life. You’ll find rest for your soul.”

You know something, I don’t believe that it was a coincidence that Andrew and Joseph reached out to help me because these are both men who have a relationship with Jesus. And I believe that Jesus brought them to me and that through them He has helped me

It’s awesome!

Some days, it seems as though everybody around us is just cruising through life, and yet somehow, we seem to be down in the trenches.  Wouldn’t it be great to soar like an eagle?        

Have you ever been through a time in your life where, I don’t know, it seems like everyone around you is doing it easy and somehow you’re down in the trenches doing it tough? I remember when I was training to be an officer in the Australian Army. We’d be on exercise digging trenches, fighting pretend wars, in the rain, and the snow, sometimes in the heat in the drought. And often, in an area quite close to an airport.

I used to see these planes flying over. I was thirsty and hot, or cold and wet. And I’d think, what I wouldn’t give to be sitting up in one of those planes, instead of digging a trench down here? Almost thirty years on, I fly in and out of that airport several times a year now. And every time I look down at where I used to dig the trenches it’s such a good feeling.

Life’s not always like that. But some days, it does feel like trench warfare, doesn’t it?

I remember when we were out there on military exercises; often we had very little food and very little water. Hunger wasn’t so bad for me; I mean ultimately hunger just becomes a dull pain. But thirst, thirst is always acute and I remember so often in the heat of the summer being so thirsty and not having enough water. And most of the time, we never had enough sleep. It was often broken.

And when we were out on an exercise, we were fighting pretend wars. Every night you had to do gun duty for an hour or you’d be out on patrol fighting battles all day. And the moment you were able to settle down, the first thing you had to do was dig a trench just in case there was a mortar or artillery attack. And so we were sleeping on cold, hard ground.

And amidst all these discomforts and the tiredness, when you’re worn down and your emotions are down and you’re under stress, it can be tough. Of course, the training was deliberately aimed at taking us to those places. And seeing how far we could go, and teaching us how to act under stress.

But sometimes, we look around at other people and we feel like we’re the ones doing the trench warfare and they’re doing it easy. But actually, they’re going through stuff as well, we just can’t see it often.

This week on A Different Perspective, we’re looking at our need for times of refreshing.

I don’t know if you’ve been able to join us this week, but on Monday we talked about the fact that times of refreshing – I mean real refreshing – like when you’ve got a deep thirst and you drink that clean water. Those times of refreshing come from the presence of God. And then on Tuesday, we looked at the fact that God says, “Look even when everything seems to be falling down around you, be still, be still in the middle of all of that, and know that I’m your God.” And yesterday we looked at what Jesus said, He said, “Look if you’re carrying heavy burdens come to me and you’ll find rest for you soul. Let me help you push, let me help you with your burden.”

Today, I’d like to share something else that God says about meeting us right where we’re at, right in that place in life were the rubber hits the road. It was written a few thousand years ago by a man, a prophet called, Isaiah. He wrote this, he said:

Even though youths will grow weary and faint, and the young will fall exhausted, those who wait on God will renew their strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they’ll walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40: 30-31)

Man, I remember when were out on exercise with a pack, a rifle, a machine, gun tired and hungry and thirsty … having to run and falling over and grazing your elbow, it’s such a real (I don’t know), parallel metaphor for life. It’s how we feel sometimes when we’re carrying around things like packs on our back. And how is it how can you rise up in the middle of that like wings of an eagle, how can you soar?

I remember once in the town where I grew up which is a place called Wollongong. There’s a boat harbour. It’s beautiful little harbour where the fishing fleet comes in and out and on the headland and there’s a white lighthouse. And standing there on the headland is one my favourite places on planet earth. You look north up the coast and you see the beaches and it just goes on and mountains. And you look south and you see this big steel works belching out pollution.

It’s lovely to be there in the summer when the sun’s shining. You see the little boats chugging in and out of this beautiful little blue harbour. But I actually like it in winter. I like going there when there’s a storm blowing when the southerly winds are whipping up the ocean and there’s the foam. There’s something scary about an angry ocean.

I was there once and I saw some pelicans flying, and a gale was blowing from the south. And it was really interesting to watch what they were doing. Now pelicans have these, I don’t know big beaks, and they’re ungainly birds but when they’re flying they’re an awesome bird to watch.

As I watched them, what they were doing was this … they were ducking around behind the headland end of the harbour where there was no wind and they were resting. And all of a sudden they would race around the headland and almost go up vertically and be caught up by this gale and be blown back into the harbour again. And they’d drop down there and have a rest. And they’d come round the headland again and go up and be blown back into the harbour and drop down and have a rest.

I watched them for an hour; they were doing this time and time again. And ultimately I understood what was going on. These guys were having fun. They were in the storm that was blowing. It must have been pretty rough up there, they were playing a game and they were really enjoying it. They were riding the storm. And if you can imagine being there with the pelicans doing what they were doing, it must have been really exhilarating to be able to ride the storm like that.

The God I know, the one who sent Jesus, His Son, to walk on this earth as a man to experience first hand your reality and mine. That Jesus suffered pressure, and expectations, and misunderstandings and crowds mobbed Him, and He was persecuted, and He was ultimately killed. And yet, as you read about Jesus in the books Matthew, Mark, Luke and John’s Gospels, He kind of did what those pelican did.

Time and again, He drew away into a quiet place to pray, away from the crowds, away from other people, away from everything and then He’d come out and ride the storm. He’d deal with the misunderstanding and the criticisms with such grace, such wisdom so wonderfully. And then He’d go back and pray again.

Whoever we are, wherever we are in our spiritual journey, I think we have something to learn from what Isaiah was talking about. He said, “If we go and wait on God – if we do what those pelicans did or what Jesus did, go into that safe harbour (that harbour of some time with God), sitting in His presence just waiting, just taking our problems and resting them on Him – we can then come out around the headland and rise up into the storm, and ride the storm.”

I love Isaiah’s words, “Even youths will grow weary and faint” (I know what that was like) “and the young will fall exhausted”, (boy, I know what that was like) “but those who wait on God will renew their strength.” It’s like God fills you up again. It’s like we’re giving out all the time in life, in relationships at work at home we’re giving out.

But when we come and rest in God’s presence, He renews our strengths. He refreshes us, He does something to us that no one else can do because He’s God. And Isaiah says, “They’ll rise up with wings like eagles, they’ll run and not be weary, they’ll walk and not faint they’ll ride the storm, they’ll enjoy their lives.”

If God’s God, don’t you think He means us to enjoy our life? God has this gift to give us, this love, this energy, this renewal, this strength. So that we can live the lives that He intended, so we can soar like eagles, so we can do the things that God made us to do.

Those who wait on God will renew their strength. They’ll rise up with wings like eagles!

You know how there are some people, when you hang around with them, they’re just such a joy to be with?  Hmmm.  I wonder if God’s like that?   

There are some people in life who can really get you down. And yet there are others you just love to get together with them. There is something about them. They get it. They understand us. They encourage us, they engage with us, you know the sort. You look forward to having a cup of coffee or catching up with them for lunch. There is a real joy to the encounter. Being in their presence fills us with something that well, there is probably just one word for it – JOY.

If that is true with people, imagine what it must be like with God. Let me tell you about a friend of mine, his name is Tony. Tony is a tall, gangly sort of guy, with curly red hair. He is someone who is so full of the joy that comes through having a relationship with Jesus. And Tony and I somehow just click. He understands me. He understands the call that God has put on my life, the gifts that I have and my limitations as well. And he spends time with God. He spends time praying. He understands who God is and Tony lets that change him inside.

Tony and I get together, probably, once every two or three weeks for a cup of coffee or a sandwich. And we might sit for an hour, an hour and a half and just talk together. Just share what’s going on in our lives and our work. And I come home and my wife, Jacqui will often ask, “So what did you two talk about?” And I always say, “I don’t know, stuff … nothing, everything.”

You know women seem to be able to get together pretty well for cups of coffee from time to time. And we men seem not to do that so much. It is just wonderful to have a friend like Tony, who I can spend some time with and it’s so encouraging. It’s so much fun. And we may not talk about anything substantial at all. It’s a joy! Somehow he ministers something into me, and I know he feels the same about our relationship. The relationship brings real joy to my life.

Okay, none of us is perfect. But this guy does something for who I am. It’s kind of the same idea with God’s presence. I often ponder about God being God – Spirit and creating the universe and the stars and the world and putting you and me here in the middle of this world full of joy and pain and laughter and tears. And (I don’t know), it’s His way, His space He has chosen for us, to put us on this world. And He brings Jesus onto this world, God’s Son. And His twelve disciples followed him around for three and a half years. And you can see that it was a real joy in their lives to have a relationship with Jesus.

But Jesus said to them, “I am going to die.” And He did, He died on the cross. He was crucified to pay for my sins, my weaknesses and yours. And then He rose again. He met with them again and He ascended into heaven. And He said, “I won’t leave you as orphans. I will send someone else just like me.” And His promise was and still is for anyone who places their trust in this Jesus that He would send His Holy Spirit. And that Father, Son and Holy Spirit would dwell inside each one of us. It is an exciting thing.

Now, just after this happened for the first time (just after Jesus ascended and a little while later), for the very first time God poured his Spirit out on Jesus’ followers. They were touched in an amazing way (for the first time the Holy Spirit), when they experienced the presence of God in a real tangible way. The way I experience Tony’s presence when we sit down and have a sandwich or a cup of coffee. And other people who are watching, they look at this and, “Wow, I wonder they have been smoking, maybe they are drunk. What is going on here? What’s the matter with these people.”

And Peter the apostle got up and he said:

Listen they are not drunk, it’s only 9am in the morning. (Acts 2:15)

Then he quoted a Psalm that was written about 1,000 years before and in part he said:

God, your presence fills me with joy! (Psalm 16:11)

He said to the people, “That’s what’s going on.” God’s presence, His reality, His very being has fallen on these people and has come to dwell in them, for the very first time.

And now (as I said before), everyone who says, “Jesus is mine. I believe Jesus died for me to pay the price of all my failures and to give me eternal life.” Everyone who places their faith in Jesus receives that same presence – the very presence of God.

And yet, you know, a lot of people kind of deny that in their lives. A lot of people don’t connect with God dwelling in them. Maybe it never sinks in. Maybe … I don’t know what it is but this is such an opportunity. God reached into the world, into history, in the person of Jesus. And He is still doing that today, in His Presence, inside of everybody that believes Jesus – the spiritual presence of the Holy Spirit.

This week on A Different Perspective, we have been talking about the fact that we all need times of refreshing. Here we are in life – with all its ups and downs, and all its noise and everyone screaming out for our attention and the cacophony of sound, and all the stuff that is going on in my life and your life. And seventy per cent of people (in the west at least) believe in God. And so often and so sadly, people hold those two things separately in their lives. This is my life, God lives in church, God doesn’t belong in my life.

Over these last five days on ‘A Different Perspective’, we’ve gone through five different places where God talks about the fact that He wants to refresh us by His Spirit. If you have a pen and paper, quickly jot these down. They are Bible references … “Oh Berni, why are you talking about the Bible again?” I’ll tell you why … because in that book God tells us how much He loves us and how much of a difference He wants to make in our lives.

The first thing we talked about was Acts 3:20, where it says:

That times of refreshing come from God’s presence. 

Then there was Psalm 46, where God says/;

Be still, in all the noise and all the drama and everything that is going on… Be still and know that I am God.

And then we look at what Jesus said in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 11 verses 28 to 30:

“Come to me,” He said, “If you’re tired, if you are carrying heavy burdens, come to me. Let me give you rest for your soul”.

And then yesterday we looked at Isaiah chapter 40 verse 30:

Wait on God. Those whose wait on God, will renew their strength. They will soar like an eagle.

And today, Acts 2:28, it’s in the New Testament. The book of Acts where Luke writes:

God your presence fills me with joy.

If you have a Bible, go and look them up. If you don’t and you are on the internet, go to a website called biblegateway.com, all one word – www.biblegateway.com.

What are we waiting for? Why is it that we hold these two things so separately in our lives? My life’s over here and my God is over there. When over and over and over again God is saying this, “I want to make a difference for you. I want to make your life better. I want to make your life richer. I want to give you peace. I want the relationship that we can have, because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. I want that to give you a stunning life. A life that is really worth living.”

What are we waiting for? Why don’t we spend more time with God? Why don’t we ask Him to fill us, give us a double helping, fuller than full of His presence – overflowing with joy and with peace?

Jesus is waiting to meet our deepest needs – to fill us with joy and peace, to refresh us, to renew us. Come on! What are we waiting for?!