Protect Your Garden of Eden: 3 Ways to Simplify Your Life

Sermon outline

Much of the stress believers carry comes from a lack of wisdom, and life becomes simpler when you know what you are made for, protect what God has given you and keep a bright picture of your future in front of you.

1. The foundation: wisdom and diligence

   Christians often chase the latest buzz without a foundation, and run for the charisma without understanding. There is nothing wrong with the anointing, but it must be joined to wisdom so that believers function in the normal world as supernatural people without acting weird. Wisdom will cost time, energy and effort, and it is worth it. Part of diligence is faithfulness, and Proverbs also says to avoid evil people rather than argue with them.

   Illustration: There are all types of fish in the sea: edible fish and nice fish, and also sharks. The kingdom of God is no different.

   “But the anointing must be married with wisdom.”

   • Proverbs 4:1-19
   • Hosea 4:6
   • Proverbs 22:29
   • Proverbs 28:20

2. 1. Determine the core product of your life

   Find out why God made you the way he did, what your passion is and what gets you up in the morning. You are an original, cut out for your work, so do not complain about your job or hate your own voice, face or mannerisms. He names two mistakes that complicate life: trying to be like other people, and trying to change everyone around you to be like you, whether a spouse, a colleague or another driver.

   Illustration: A book is his presence in your life without him expending energy. After 35 years of marriage he says he could never change his wife, only influence her. On the freeway, when a tiny car sits on his bumper, he moves left and lets it pass.

   “You do what you do because only you can do it the way you can do it.”

3. 2. Identify your immediate divine domain of responsibility

   You are where you are because God placed you there, so do not resign prematurely, change jobs for money or move house without being led by the Spirit. Adam and Eve were responsible for the garden, and whatever God has given you is yours to protect, not his. Do not tell everyone your business, your customers or your bank balance. Water your garden by educating yourself until you are proficient in it.

   Illustration: Joseph told his dream too quickly to the wrong people, and they wanted to kill it before it was born. He adds that he was praying in the car that same day, submitting a big decision to the Holy Spirit.

   “It's your Garden of Eden. It's your responsibility to protect it.”

   • Romans 8:14
   • Genesis 2:15
   • Genesis 37:5-11

4. Under point two: respond to disinterest appropriately

   Disinterest in you, your work or the vision of the team is a warning sign, so stop investing in people who show none. Go where the hunger is and look for the people who have your back and celebrate your success. He tells the church that as their pastor he is not in competition with them, carries them in his heart and wants them to exceed what he has.

   Illustration: A sick man in Atlanta asked for prayer and was referred to a church near his home, but decided to fly to South Africa for prayer on the Sunday. Like the woman with the issue of blood, his interest caught the pastor's attention. He also spent almost two hours that day with a man who gave him nothing, simply because the man was hungry for God.

   “What attracts people in your environment is interest.”

   • Mark 5:25-34

5. 3. Visualise your desired future continuously

   Picture what you desire and keep picturing your future as bright. The greatest investment you can make is in the Holy Spirit: time in the word, in worship and in church. Those who came that night leave with the grace of God, and as that grace grows, wisdom grows and challenges disappear.

   “Keep on picturing your future as a bright future.”

   • Proverbs 4:7

6. God packages his greatest gifts in flawed vessels

   Do not give up on people or write them off. He looks past the faults he sees in the church because he was there too, and God looked beyond his faults. Church is not a place to judge people but to build them, and God has invested in each believer and expects a return.

   Illustration: He points to himself as an Indian man who was a Hindu, whom God saved and raised up. When God looks at you he sees an oak tree, not an acorn, and a garden, not a flower pot.

   “God often packages His greatest gifts in the most flawed vessels.”

7. Recognition of greatness gives access to greatness

   Fighting your management shuts the door to promotion, because you are fighting the people who hold it. Honour the office whoever fills it, as Joseph dressed properly before he stood in front of Pharaoh. Pick your battles, walk away from fights that are not yours, stop collecting stories, and fill your mind with the word instead.

   Illustration: At about 28 he commanded around 50 people, most of them much older than him. When the district office asked each unit for one really good person to deploy elsewhere, he nominated his most troublesome member and sent him off with a commendation. That, he says, is how management works you out of the system.

   “When you recognize greatness, it gives you access to greatness.”

   • Genesis 41:14
   • Joshua 1:8
   • Matthew 10:16