When I was growing up there were variety shows on TV like Ed Sullivan who showcased all kinds of talent. I used to love to watch the plate spinners. Do you remember them? They would place a plate on a pole and start the plate spinning, and then add another, and another and another until the stage would be filled. The person would have to watch each plate and each pole and run all around to keep them going. I loved it. Plate spinners and jugglers make it look so easy but if you have ever tried it, you know it’s not.
One of the hidden talents of our director or youth ministries, Jeff Pilger, is juggling so I asked Jeff if he would come and give us a demonstration. He makes it look easy but Jeff, what if I tossed you another bag? How about another one? No matter how good a juggler you are, at some point you can’t handle one more.
OK. Let’s go back to three. Anyone feel like this is your life? You have a lot of things going on and it is taking everything you have to keep it going. We have work and family and all the schedules for our kids (or grandkids). We want our children to be well rounded and they are talented children who are good at so many things so get them involved in sports and music and dance and church and then have to schedule play dates and set aside time for homework.
So here you are juggling multiple schedules for kids and keeping track of carpools and snack days for your children’s class or teams. And this is on top of work and caring for parents and maintaining the house and caring for the yard and keeping up with your own hobbies and interests and let’s not forget church where there is worship, small groups, volunteering for the football dinners and 5th quarter as well as setting aside time for mission work, children’s ministry, and the rhythm workshops. It’s all good and we want to do it all. But here is the lie we keep telling ourselves - I can do it all. I can handle it all.
But you can’t. You can’t do it all. As good as Jeff is, he can’t handle it all.
We are in these series which is very challenging because it is called, you don’t have what it takes, and we don’t like to be told that we aren’t good enough and that we can’t make people happy, and we don’t like to be told that we don’t can’t handle it all, because we honestly think we can. We think we can do it all or maybe we think we have to do it all, so we juggle more and more without even noticing that everything around us is falling apart.
I am going to ask you 4 questions to see if you are trying to handle it all on your own. If any one of these things pertains to you, then you might be trying to do too much. I am going to tell you right now that you aren’t going to like hearing these questions because they will hit too close to home, at least they did for me, but we need to take an honest look at our lives and see if we need to make some changes so that we can find some rest and health and peace.
Are you out of shape Physically? If we don’t have the time to eat right, shop for the right foods, get out and walk, and care for ourselves physically then we could be too busy trying to do it all.
Are you out of sorts Emotionally? Do you find yourself getting irritated easily at work or at home? Do you feel like you could have a nervous breakdown if you only had time for it? Are you holding all your emotions together but feel like the dam is going to burst soon? It could be that you are trying to do it all when we weren’t made to do it all.
Are you out of touch Relationally? When was the last time you had a date night with your spouse and heard what was going on in their heart and life? When was the last time you had a family dinner and everyone got to share what they were doing and how things were going? When was the last time you got together with some friends to share what is going on and offer one another support? Trying to do it all means that we sacrifice relationships for activities and find ourselves out of touch. .
Are you out of order Spiritually? What priority does God have in your heart, your life, and your schedule? Are you reading God’s word, spending time in prayer, and making worship a priority so you can regroup and regain your footing each week? Have you stopped going to a small group and allowing others to pray for you, support you, and encourage you? Are you pouring your faith into others which always has to be part of a vital relationship with God? Our spiritual wellbeing is often the first thing to go when we get too busy and yet this might be the one thing that can help us the most.
Are you feeling out of sorts, out of touch, out of order, out of shape? If you are, chances are good that you are simply trying to do it all on your own and you can’t handle it all and we weren’t meant to. I can say this with confidence because even Jesus could not handle it all.
If you really think that you can handle everything and even add one more thing to your schedule and one more commitment to your life, I want you to consider this moment in the life of Jesus. Jesus was at the beginning of His ministry and the first thing He became known for was healing people. Jesus healed all kinds of people and word of His miracles spread all through Galilee.
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. Mark 1:32-39
Jesus was becoming a successful faith healer and miracle worker. He was healing the sick, casting out demons and transforming people’s lives. Jesus could have done this for the rest of His life and made a huge difference in the world, but He knew God was calling Him to tell others about the coming kingdom of God, so Jesus left the crowd and went to other towns. Even Jesus didn’t try and do it all. He didn’t try to be a full-time preacher and full time healer. If the Son of God knew He had limits and couldn’t handle everything, why do we think we can.
Jesus didn’t try to do it all and he didn’t tweak His schedule and make small changes to try and fit it all in. Jesus made some radical changes. He said, let’s leave this place and go to other towns. He breaks away from what He had been doing to do something new. This is what many of us might need to do as well. Small changes might not work, what might be needed is a complete reordering of our lives. What reordering might be needed? What changes can we make to help us find a better and healthier balance in life. Here are 4 things we need to consider:
#1. Stop doing some things. If we are trying to do it all, we need to stop. Literally stop. We need to stop doing some things so that we can find order and balance and wholeness and peace. I know you are thinking, but I can’t stop doing these things. There is no one else to do it. Well, maybe there is but they haven’t been given the chance. Stop doing some things.
Psalm 46:10, Be still, and know that I am God. The word still is the word raphah which means to slacken or to let drop. What things do we need to drop? What things do we need to stop doing? It’s hard to think about this because we want everyone to like us and if we stop volunteering at school or in the community, it might upset people. We don’t want to disappoint people, we don’t want people to look down on us, but we also can’t keep going at the pace we are, so what can we drop. This will be different for all of us, but we have to ask ourselves what can I stop, what can I say “no” to.
Some things need to be dropped. Some things need to be stopped. I don’t know what needs to be stopped in your life so that you and your family have some breathing room. I don’t know what needs to be stopped so you can get in touch with one another, reorder your lives and get emotionally grounded once again. It’s different for all of us but something needs to be stopped.
#2. Share some things. If we find ourselves trying to do it all and can’t stop something, maybe we can share some of what we are doing with others. Jesus did this. Jesus said His mission was to go to other towns where He could preach and teach about the kingdom of God, but Jesus could not go everywhere so He shared His mission and sent His disciples.
Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. Mark 6:6-7 & 12-13
Jesus couldn’t do it all, so He shared His mission. The plan of Jesus was never to try and do it all but to send the Holy Spirit to His followers so that we could share in the mission and accomplish what Jesus alone could not do. This is an example we need to follow. We need to share some things with others.
This series and message has challenged me to look at my own life and schedule to see what changes need to be made. One change for me is that I have chosen to share the leadership of our men’s bible study for the next year. I finally got to the place where I heard God say, Andy you can’t do it all and you have many good men in this group who can lead and need to lead, so I am sharing the responsibility and joy of leadership and I am looking forward to learning from others as a participant.
What things can you share? Where can you ask for help and support as you share the burden and responsibility of leadership. Not everything has to be stopped if you can share the burden and create time and space to rest. We can’t do it all so some things need to be stopped and some things need to be shared.
#3. All things need to be surrendered. The only way to know what needs to be stopped and what can be shared is to surrender everything to God. Before Jesus announced to His disciples that He was going to leave and go to other towns to preach, He went off early in the morning to pray. While we don’t know what Jesus prayed, I believe He was once again surrendering His life to God.
God, what do you want me to do with my limited days on earth? Am I to just heal people? Am I supposed to go from town to town and drive out evil spirits? Did you send me to be a faith healer or do something different? Can I do both? Can I do it all? Jesus surrendered it all to God and God gave Him the direction He needed. God said, don’t try and do it all, do what I sent you to do.
If you are looking at your life and asking yourself, what should I stop? Or if you are thinking, I can’t stop anything? Or if you aren’t seeing anything you can share but are still feeling completely stressed out, then you aren’t fully surrendered to God. As we surrender it all to God, God will show us what to stop and what to share. God will give us the strength and power we need to do what He calls us to do. We can’t do it all, but we can do all God has for us but only by the power of God’s Spirit.
Some of us need to surrender this week. We can’t keep going at the pace we are going. We can’t keep destroying our own physical, emotional, and spiritual health and we can’t keep straining all our relationships. It’s time to surrender and ask God for help. We need to ask God to show us what to stop and what to share and we need to ask God for one more thing that won’t make any sense at all. We need to ask God what things we need to start.
#4. Start some things. I know. It makes no sense for me to stand here and tell you that in your already busy lives you need to start some new things, but it might be that you need to start the right things to help you get your life back. Maybe you need to start praying each morning. Maybe you need to start reading God’s word each evening. Maybe you need to start making sure worship is part of your ongoing routine so you can connect with the living God and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Maybe you need to start connecting with people in a spiritual way through a small group so you can hear that you aren’t alone and start learning from others and how to lean on others as you try and navigate the burdens and blessings of life. Maybe you need to start a practice where one day a month you wipe the slate clean and spend time as a family so you can make sure your loved ones know that they really are the ones you love.
When we say no to some things it allows us to say yes to God’s things, when we share what we can with others and surrender all things to God, we begin to find the balance we need for life and see the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
None of us want to hear that we can’t handle it all. None of us like to think that we can’t do it all. But we can’t. What has become normal in the world is for us to juggle 4, 5, 6 bags all at once and then try to take on more. We can’t handle it all. We can’t do it all. Jesus couldn’t handle it all and He didn’t even try. Jesus stopped some things, He shared some things, He surrendered everything and that allowed Him to start new things. Surrender helped Jesus focus on God’s things. Take all the bags you are trying to keep in the air and lay them at the feet of Jesus. Ask Him, what can I stop, what can I share, and what do you want me and need me to start.
You can’t do it all, so please stop trying and surrender it all to God and then do what God calls you to do and do it in the power that God will give you through the Holy Spirit.
Next Steps
You Can’t Handle It All
Honestly evaluate your life with these 4 questions:
1. Are you out of shape physically?
2. Are you out of sorts emotionally?
3. Are you out of touch relationally?
4. Are you out of order spiritually?
How is doing too much leading to problems in these 4 areas?
Read Mark 1:29-34
Even Jesus didn’t try to do it all.
1. What did Jesus stop doing?
2. What did Jesus share? (see Mark 6:6-7 & 11-12)
3. How did Jesus surrender everything?
4. What did Jesus start doing?
Follow the example of Jesus.
Surrender everything to God.
● Lay your calendar and schedule before God.
● Ask God to be honored and glorified in all you do.
● Ask God to show you what needs to be changed.
What can you stop doing?
● Identify one thing God might want you to stop doing.
● What steps can you take to ease out of the commitment honorably?
What can you share with others?
● Identify one area where you could share leadership and responsibility with someone else.
● Who might that person be?
● Ask them for help.
What do you need to start doing?
● Identify one thing God is asking you to start doing.
● Commit to doing it this week.
