Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV)
There are many words in the English language that can really stir emotions within us—cause us to think. Words like love, beauty, happiness. One such word is the word rest. This word stirs may emotions.
When we hear the word rest, we often anticipate. We look forward with hopeful imagination and anticipation to a day off, a vacation, or maybe just an hour of peace and quiet sitting in the recliner.
Sometimes when we hear the word rest, we become resentful. We look around us as everyone else who (at least in our own view) is getting plenty of rest from life’s struggles while we are not.
I believe that we often do not receive the rest that we so greatly need and want because we do not go about it in the right way. Let me offer these suggestions:
1. Plan for rest. We make doctors’ appointments, business appointments, appointments with our families for special occasions, etc. We need to make plans periodically in our lives when we can get away from the daily hassles and just rest. These times can be breaks in the day, a day away from everything periodically, and the occasional vacation.
2. Prepare for rest. This is a tough one for me. I am on vacation at this moment, but I am up early in the morning writing an article for our church newsletter. Why? Because I did not get it done before I left. Sure, there are excuses: I was busy, something else got in the way, etc. But the bottom line is that I just put it off and did not fully prepare for rest.
3. Go to the right source for rest. James says, “You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:2) Jesus tells us to come to Him for rest. We need to learn to rely on God for rest as well as everything else He provides for in our lives. If we can truly turn our worries, cares and tiredness over to Him, He can and will provide that much needed rest.
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11:28-30 The Message)
