YOU IN FIVE YEARS
From Evening to Morning!
Today, as we jump into week 4 of our series, I want to talk to us about when change is going to happen, with a message titled – From Evening to Morning!
So when is a change going to actually happen in our lives? We talk about change. We get inspired to change. We hear sermons about change. We even fast and pray about change. But, in our already over-committed and busy schedules, where in the world are we supposed to find the time and energy to actually invest in that change?
Little by little? That sounds nice pastor, but from dawn to dark, I don’t have a little!
What if a change was never supposed to happen from dawn till dark? What if God knows that we are running a million miles an hour from sun up to sundown, and we can’t possibly fit anything else in our schedule? What if change happens somewhere else?
To find the answer to when change can really happen, let’s go all the way back to the beginning and take a look at:
Genesis 1:1-5
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (ESV)
Over 40 times in the Bible we see two words, “evening” and “morning” used in the same verse. In the book of Exodus, the Lord tells the Israelites they would eat meat in the evening, and manna in the morning. In Psalm 90, the psalmist tells us that our entire lives are like a day. In the morning we flourish, and in the evening we wither. Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 11:6, to plant our seed in the morning and in the evening to not let our hands become idle. All of the action is mentioned in the evening and morning!
But my favorite verse of all, using these two words, is the one in Genesis 1:5 because it flips everything upside down. Let’s re-read verse 5, “God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”
Trying to take consistent steps towards change, in the middle of chaos, will never work!
We will never sustain lasting change trying to force it into our unpredictable days!
Change happens from evening to morning. Life happens from morning to evening.
There’s a window of time where we can take small steps that will change our lives.
We must tap into the predictability of our evenings and mornings in order to see change!
I want to share two steps to take advantage of this biblical pattern for change:
(1) Get Sleep!
Hebrews 4:9-11 “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,[a] just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.”
We set our alarm for when it’s time to get up, so why not set it when it’s time to sleep!
After Elijah called out Ahab for worshipping 450 prophets of Baal and embarrassed him at the altar games in from of everyone, Ahab’s wife Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah, in:
I Kings 19:3-5 “Elijah was afraid[a] and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,… He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
When people get too tired, we become disillusioned, depressed and discouraged!
There are three things in this passage that God did when Elijah finally rested:
> God visited him!
> God spoke to him!
> God fed him!
*Our life will move to a productive place when we move at a sustainable pace!*
(2) Go Deep!
Three areas in our lives where we really need to Go Deep:
-Go Deep Spiritually!
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”
John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Genesis 3:8 tells us that Adam walked with God, after sundown, in the cool of the day!
The more we read the Bible, the more we will fall in love with the author!
-Go Deep Physically!
3 John 1:2 “My dear friend, I pray that everything may go well with you and that you may be in good health—as I know you are well in spirit.”
Physical activity and working out has been proven to help the heart and the mind!
1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV) “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own”
*It’s really hard to carry Jesus to the world when your temple is falling apart!*
-Go Deep Personally!
Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
We can’t keep waiting for life to slow down to write that book, sketch those portraits, learn that instrument, start that 2nd business. We have to find a way to do it now!
Just because you’ve got a job doesn’t mean you can’t have a dream!
A wise person once said – “Don’t die with your music still inside of you.”
Ministry time: Offer a prayer for people who need to Get Sleep & Go Deep!
Need Prayer? Email: prayer@realchurchohio.com