Welcome And Why We Gather

Chris Grainger 0:02

Welcome to the Lion Within Us, the podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders, God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, guys. Scripture kickoff time. Let's get into it. Okay, so the scripture of the week this week is in the book of Matthew, chapter 11, verses 28, 29, and 30. Okay, so three verses. It says, Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I'm gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is comfortable, and my burden is light. Wonderful words right there, directly from our Lord Jesus, fellas. And we're just going to see how we can simplify and apply this to our life today as we think about this scripture together. And again, we do this the spiritual kickoff. If you enjoy them, we do them Monday through Friday at the Line Within us. It's called the Daily Spiritual Kickoff. Guys absolutely love it. They enjoy it. If you can't make it live, you have access to the videos. We don't put those videos anywhere else. You also have access to our prayer request space, and we have a weekly prayer call that we're going to invite you to. And also on top of all that, we're doing a free gift for everybody who joins the daily spiritual kickoff. So you can sign up, get your free gift. This is best if you're in the United States. We can't set them outside the U.S. So if you're in the U.S., get your free gift, and uh we'd love to get that over to you. Okay. So the lionwithin.us is where you find all that at fellows. Okay. So now let's think about this scripture. First thing we need to understand, uh, we always talk about this on the pod, is where it are the books that we're that we're kind of thinking about. So the book of Matthew, you know, this is just for reference. This is a New Testament. This is a call to gospel. You only have four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So it's your first one. So if you get to the book of Malachi, the end of the Old Testament, flip it. That's going to represent about 400 years. And then right there, boom, you'll be in the in the Gospel of Matthew. Okay. And this week on the pod,

Matthew 11 Rest Invitation

Chris Grainger 1:53

we're going to be talking about being a guy who's overwhelmed. I don't know if you felt that before, but I have felt it a lot lately. And as a matter of fact, just before hitting uh record on this episode, I got news from one of my buddies that I'm connected with that his he his son had been battling cancer and uh just found out that he didn't make it. His son passed away. And and this is a little four-year-old. And and uh just again,

Daily Kickoff And Free Gift

Chris Grainger 2:23

that overwhelming feeling just hit me in that moment. I said, you know what, I think this is the time to record this episode. Let's just go ahead and while the emotions are real and just get it out there. And um, so again, I'm just praying for that family. That family, by the time this comes out, this will be a a little bit, but the family isn't it's the name is Warren. So if you want to pray for the Warren family, that'd be great. Uh there's no pain like like it ain't. And says someone who's been there and done that, uh, not to that degree with with with that family, but it just still had to have lost my daughter. Um there are no words. And sometimes the burden just can feel so heavy on us. And guys, this is what we got to talk about scripture like this. I think this is why the Lord Jesus gives us words like this. Come to me. Weary and burdened. It's gonna give us that rest. Just put that yoke on him and learn, right? And um, I'm not so sure when business in this world became like a badge of honor, guys. But but it became a badge of honor for me, and quite frankly, it's still something I'm wrestling with. So do not take this podcast like I have figured

Overwhelm Meets Real Grief

Chris Grainger 3:31

this out. This is something that that that your buddy Chris here works has to work on all the time. And since moving to the farm, it's just gotten worse. It just there's there's just more and more, there's never, you know, downtime, rest time. So I really struggle here. So I'm not coming from this from a place of authority of I've got it figured out. I'm just being just transparent with you. And uh I like to get stuff done, right? And I like chasing tasks, I like completing tasks, I like getting a check mark, right? And like crossing stuff off the list, like boom, the next account, period. Like that's it. So at the same time, if my calendar is not filled to the brim, I would get this uneasy feeling. Like I would almost get like feeling guilty. And and the fuller my plate became, the more validated I would start to feel as a man. Right? I'd feel needed or feel worthy or valuable, right? The dangerous part was how it shaped the way I viewed other people. Okay, and that's I would be judgmental if I would look at a man. If he wasn't running at full tilt, I'd be like, what are you doing, bro? In my mind, I question how he could fail to recognize the gift of time that we've been given and the responsibility to steward it well, right? And that that takes a drive, that takes uh uh effort. And if you didn't have that same level of effort that I thought I did, I I would have condemning eyes.

When Busy Feels Like Manhood

Chris Grainger 4:58

But then it all came crashing down around me because I I really ran into overwhelming burnout through some difficult seasons. Uh and then it was in that brokenness, guys, the guy stepped in and and he he gave me the time, the space, and perspective I desperately needed for a refrain. And I don't know if you can relate to this or not, but it feels like our culture these days, the world idolizes the man that can keep the most plates spinning, right? I mean, the the days of a dude just going to work, coming home and spending time with his family, there it's almost like that stuff just don't exist anymore. Because every free moment is still one more thing.

Adam Rushing 5:38

One more distraction, just one more.

unknown 5:42

Right?

Chris Grainger 5:43

It's almost like we bought a lie, guys, that the weight of the world rests solely on our shoulders. And I think the enemy likes it when we think that way. Because then he can plant the seeds of condemnation and uncertainty that if we don't leave that stuff unchecked, bro, that stuff turns into poison. It just does. Right. And for me, it started when I started comparing myself to others, I would compare myself to others at work or at home or at church or social settings, and I'd look around and I'll measure myself against them.

Adam Rushing 6:14

What I found was bitterness and covetedness would start freaking in. And that would fuel me to do more and more. More and more. Yet if I had simply asked the ones who matter most, my wife, my children, what they wanted from me, never would they say more stuff. Never. There would never be an answer at their mouth. And I think as a man, that's why what Jesus is telling us here in Matthew

Burnout Comparison And Bitterness

Adam Rushing 6:46

11 is hitting so hard. It says, All who are weary and burdened, and I'll give you rest. And I think the hard part for me, maybe for you, particularly in obeying this invitation, is admitting that we're weary, we're tired, and we're burdened. Because that can almost feel like we're admitting defeat and that we're losing.

Chris Grainger 7:19

And and let's just face it, I don't know a guy on the planet that likes to feel like they're losing. But what instead, if we reframe it and consider we're not losing at all. What if Jesus is asking us here? We're not asking, what if Jesus is telling us here? Is that we need a purposeful pause in this rat race of life? I mean, I don't know about you, I love sports. I I grew up, you know, in bat in basketball. I enjoyed watching it from time to time. And I grew up Michael Jordan was the thing, right? I mean, I was born in 81, so you know, I got this MJ and his prime, like it wasn't any better. I mean, on the court to do was beast, right? But even at the top of his game, early 90s, MJ, Chicago Bulls, he still needed to take a timeout. He still needed to put himself on the bench to recover. He still needed to rest.

unknown 8:18

Right?

Chris Grainger 8:19

MJ couldn't do it all, all the time. And this is kind of for us, this is what Jesus is telling us. He's like, look, life is hard, right? And resistance and friction is to be expected. But that true rest is available and it's only found in him. But it's not like a bed or sports drink or energy bar. No, man, this is so much deeper, fuller, fulfilling, always accessible. This is exactly what we need when we need it. I mean, look, look at the words one more time. I will give you rest. That's a promise. He's not saying I will think about it. He recognizes that the rest comes in him. It comes directly in him. And take the yoke upon you, right? And just think about how a yoke works between two animals.

Adam Rushing 9:10

We're working together

Timeout Lessons And The Yoke

Adam Rushing 9:12

and we're learning. And Jesus has that humble heart, that gentle spirit, and he's promising rest for our soul.

Chris Grainger 9:24

And just I don't know who's listening right now. I know lots of you guys listen to the spiritual kickoff episodes, and we're honored by that each and every week. And they're super short. I mean, we we do the whole pot, the whole SKOs in 10 or 20 minutes. But if you're a brother out there right now and you're at the end of your rope and you're tired, you gotta ask yourself, man, like, what are you gonna stop trying to do it all on on your own?

Adam Rushing 9:52

When are you gonna stop trying to fight the battles and being an isolationist? And and when are you gonna stop resisting Jesus' invitation to rest?

Chris Grainger 10:03

And I mean our question of the week this week, what I want you to think about, is where maybe consider where are you saying yes too quickly?

Adam Rushing 10:14

That skits us when we say yes too quick. The only thing we need to be quick to saying yes to is the Holy Spirit, whatever he tells us to do.

Chris Grainger 10:27

And he's not gonna call us into something that's gonna take us out. He may call us to do some hard things for sure, but the Holy Spirit is not gonna walk us, walk us down a path of self-destruction.

Adam Rushing 10:40

Usually we do that on our own.

Chris Grainger 10:42

So again, if you if you're struggling and you need that rest, you're feeling overwhelmed right now, don't worry about the words that I've said here in the podcast. Just go straight to the scripture. Let the words directly from our Lord Jesus be your comfort.

Adam Rushing 11:01

Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Chris Grainger 11:07

Take my yoke yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Adam Rushing 11:16

For my yoke is comfortable, and my burden is light. That's what it's all about.

Chris Grainger 11:25

And I just pray that for you guys that you recognize these words to be true, that you believe them, that you have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, that you surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, so that you can have that peace, that comfort, that rest available. And if you don't have

Where You Say Yes Too Fast

Chris Grainger 11:44

that relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the best you'll ever get is earthly rest. And let me tell you what, that's only going to give you so much. The latent great Phil Robertson talked about the rarest commodity on earth being peace of mind. And it's so true. And the only peace, the only rest we can truly find here on earth is found in Christ. It's found when we put our trust in him as our Lord and Savior. It's found when we lay aside what we try to strive for on our own, and we recognize we can't do this on our own. But Jesus, but God, but he can. When he becomes the focus of our attention,

Stop Carrying Life Alone

Chris Grainger 12:24

and just like my my buddy, who just lost his son, he's a he's a big believer.

Adam Rushing 12:30

And he knew that when his son closed his eyes, he was in the presence of the king.

Chris Grainger 12:37

His body's not hurting anymore, he's not struggling anymore, there's no more tears, there's no more pain.

Adam Rushing 12:45

But you have the same option available to you.

Chris Grainger 12:51

And conversely, if you reject that, the the the most happiness you'll ever find will be here on earth. And it's gonna be so limited, and it's gonna be circumstantial, and it's gonna flee. It's gonna be here one minute and gone the next. But hopefully, eternal joy is available when we surrender to Him, when we recognize that we are a sinner in need of a Savior, when we fall short of the glory of God, when we can't overcome that sinner our life on our own. We can't buy it, we can't earn it, we can't work our way towards it. No, there's nothing we can do to overcome it. So we need someone to do for us we can't do for ourselves. That is what Jesus did plain and simple.

Adam Rushing 13:47

Plain and simple. I don't want to draw it out today. I just need you to know that Jesus loves you. He wants a relationship with you, he's waiting for you to confess him as Lord. And he wants to walk with you. But you have to make the decision on whether you're gonna surrender to him or keep pushing down this path that you're on of your own strength. My prayers you recognize the uh the error in that thinking.

Chris Grainger 14:29

And that wherever you are, if you haven't confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior, as you take that step of obedience today. And look, I don't know why you listen to the line. Maybe you were searching for stuff being overwhelmed, and somehow the podcast feed, this thing popped up, and you're hearing this guy who was talking about something, some scripture that sounded really good, but now he's talking about me surrendering my life. Like, what is this? Look, all I know is God's got you here for a reason. You're listening, what, 15 minutes into this podcast for a reason? If you've never taken that step, maybe that is the reason. Maybe God is literally trying to grab your attention right now. The question is, are you just gonna click onto the next pod? Or you're gonna do something with what the Holy Spirit's convicting you to do right now. That is surrender to Him. And look, I'll pray with you. And like you ain't gotta be in a church pew or sitting in some building to do this. You can surrender your life to Jesus wherever you are, be it a treadmill, a car, on a trail, it doesn't matter. God's everywhere, and he's ready for you and waiting for you to take that step that you know he's calling you to. So let's just pray. So, Lord, I don't know who the listener is right now. I just got a feeling in my spirit that there is somebody right now. Your timing is perfect. And they recognize, Lord, their way is just not working at all. And they recognize that they are a sinner in need of a savior. They believe that you're it. And they're confessing you as Lord and Savior of your life. So I pray you be with that man or woman right now, that you bless them, that you encourage them, that you just give them the peace that passes all understanding that comes through that abiding relationship with you. And I pray as they begin their discipleship journey that you just put some people in their path, some resources, some opportunities to help them not get off on the wrong track, to let them get started and forge ahead. Also, no, the enemy's not happy right now. He's not happy with the decision that they have made. And he's gonna do all he can to discourage them. I just want to pray against that God. Just pray your strength over this person. Give them strength, resolve, desire, drive to take the steps of obedience that you call them to take. We thank you for what you did for us on the cross. We ask for forgiveness to where you where we fail you every day. We pray we glorify you in everything. This is in your son's precious name we pray. Amen. So, yeah, that's if you just accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, I'd love to hear from you. Like there is nothing that would make my day better than hearing, get that message from you. So you can email me, Chris at thelionwithin.us, is an easy way

A Prayer Of Surrender

Chris Grainger 17:21

to email me. I'll send you some free sources to get you started on your discipleship journey. And I just love to just to connect with you. So this week we're gonna talk about being a guy who's overwhelmed. This is we're gonna kind of dive into one of the plans I wrote for the Bible app. It's it's done very well on the Bible app. So I thought, you know what, let's just share this one with our podcast listeners. And from the bottom of my heart, just hear me right here. Thank you. Like there are so many odds out there. There are so many shows. And it's not of a lack of options, that's for sure. So the fact that so many people listen to the lion each and every week, it blows me away for one. And I'm very humbled. And I'll just tell you this, there's a lot of work that goes into what you're hearing right now. A lot of work, a lot of hours, a lot of just it's not as easy as most people think. And I just want to just simply say thank you. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. If you've checked out some of the things we do at The Lion, from our live events to the Lion's Den, obviously the daily spiritual kickoff to our masterminds. And you found value in that, thank you. If you haven't checked those things out yet, I'd encourage you to. Open the Bible out. That's a free way that we serve many,

Next Steps And How To Connect

Chris Grainger 18:47

many people, tens of thousands of people on a regular basis, or right carrying the Bible out. And God is using us. So, hey, open the Bible out, search for Lion Within Us, follow us there, start reading some of our I'm just a guy plans. Share that stuff out. Go to your church leader, say, hey, we should be talking about this in our small groups. You start just be an advocate in those areas. That's a great way to support the lion. Right there. Obviously, ratings for you help, things like that on your podcast, but just telling a fellow brother about the lion, that's huge.

Adam Rushing 19:24

It's huge.

Chris Grainger 19:26

That's honestly thank you for the guys that do that and intentionally take those steps. So we'll see you next time. Look, come hang out with us. I'm gonna keep digging into this idea of being overwhelmed, and hopefully you'll be encouraged along the way. All right, guys, thanks for listening so much. The lionwithin.us is where you find all the resources, find everything there. Uh, join the daily spiritual kickoff. Go ahead and start that or hop into Lions Den. By the way, we have lots of guys who just joined the Lions Den and they they they take part of that just to be a monthly supporter of what we do. That's it. They just want to support what we do, and that's a great way to do it. You know, if you so if you like the Bible plans, if you if you like the reading plans on the Bible lab, rather, if you like the podcast, and if you like maybe the book, Unleashing Alliance Within, and the thing, the things that we're putting out, the weekly rule, all the stuff that if that resonates and you're getting value and you just want to give back in a small way, join the lion's dead. It's a great way just to give back. And your support would mean the world. So again, the lion with itwithin.us, where you find it at, guys. Have a great day. We'll see you next time. Just keep on leashing the lion with that. It's time to stop neglecting the body that God gave you. And we're done making excuses and watching discipline slip. So we decided it's time to rebuild strength the right way. And we have our Health Stronghold Support Group, which is a dedicated space inside the lion's den, specifically for men who are ready to steal their bodies with discipline and purpose. Look, this is not just for guys trying to lose weight. This is clear that up. This is for guys who know that energy affects you how you lead, your habits affect how you lead your family, and discipline affects your calling. And most guys don't need another workout plan or some extreme diet ideas. They need strongholds. They need to have a place where they can hear other men say that I fall into. I want consistency, not shortcuts. So inside our health stronghold, you're gonna find real conversations around physical health and discipline. Honest discussions about habits, setbacks, and progress, and encouragement for men pursuing strength. This comes with a monthly call with one of our trusted guys as well. So look, it's not about vanity, it's about stewardship. It's a place to train without shame and pursue strength without comparison. You don't have to impress anybody. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just gotta show up. So the health stronghold is found inside the lion's den, and you can start a 30 day free trial today. Day. So if you're ready to stop drifting, head over to thelionwithin.us. That's thhelionwithin.us. And hop inside the lion's den. Start your 30 30-day free trial and get started today at thelionwithin.us.