Help For The Weary
Exhausted, Weary and Empty? Come Now!
Our youthful visions of life’s journey are filled with great expectations. However, the reality of unfulfilled expectations can burden our minds and hearts with suffocating heaviness. We have navigated through life’s unexpected storms and survived, but our missteps, shortcomings, and failures often darken the path ahead with seemingly no rest in sight. The invisible power of anxiety distresses our hearts. We are weary, burdened, and beaten down, but no one knows the depths of despair to which we have fallen. We are experienced at concealing our feelings of emptiness lingering on the inside. Sometimes it feels as though we have lost our way. We are hoping for better days ahead so we press on in search of the joyful rest, peace, and love that seems so elusive. If any of this sounds familiar you will want to read the invitation Jesus extends to all.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Mat. 11:28-30)
Christ’s invitation “come to me” holds the promise of a supernatural rest for our minds, hearts, and souls that are not accessible in the natural realm. This “rest” is not experienced through church attendance, prayers, or any religious observance or participation. It is not a reward for good choices and right behavior. It cannot be purchased with our wealth or experienced through any successful endeavors. It is not the absence of troubles and struggles. It flows from Christ alone and cannot be experienced apart from Christ.
The metaphor “take my yoke upon you and learn from me” is beyond modern comprehension and must be explained. When Jesus first spoke these words, His listeners easily understood the necessity and benefits of yoking two oxen together. As one ox pulled the other learned to move in tandem as the attached yoke would otherwise tighten and create discomfort. The picture of being yoked together with Jesus as we labor and pull life’s heavy loads is one of learning from Jesus and yielding to His leadership. In His yoke, we learn to steadily move along while not getting ahead of the Lord and not falling behind.
The accumulation of life’s activities are in our wagons and they are often burdensome to pull alone. Our wagons are filled with failed marriages, lost employment, financial problems, rebellious children, health issues, broken hearts, unfulfilled dreams, personal failures, daily conflicts, betrayed relationships, sinful lifestyles, and the drama and baggage of life’s cares that are exhausting to bear. We grow mentally and emotionally weary trying to move forward with a wagonload of painful and often shameful outcomes that we cannot escape or bear.
Jesus’ invitation to yoke up with Him and learn from Him is the place where we will find relief from going it alone and rest in our troubled lives. Jesus’ words “learn from me” challenge our stubborn self-sufficient mindsets that think we have no need for His leadership, teachings, or wisdom. We must willingly humble ourselves before we can answer His invitation to “come” and find supernatural rest for our souls. We must reject and turn from the uneven, unfair yoke of bondage this world has strapped on us and yoke up with the Lord.
The supernatural rest promised by Christ is not necessarily a cessation from labor but an abiding state of being. We have answered the invitation to come to Him. We are yoked side-by-side in a relationship with the Lord. We can rest in the strength of His presence as we learn of Him and follow His lead. We become intimately connected in a supernatural relationship with the Lord.
Christ’s promise is not to talk about rest or teach about rest, but to give rest to all who come to Him. His rest is not resting from the storm but rest in the storm. Coming to Christ does not make life’s trials and hardships disappear, but instead, we receive the rest, peace, joy, patience, strength, and endurance to live life to its fullest in the presence of any and all circumstances. The apostle Paul put it this way in Phil. 4:13; “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Regardless of the heavy load, burden, troubles, trials, or hardships we may face in this life, Christ is standing with us and will provide all that we need to move forward in victory!
How to Turn to God
Perhaps at this very moment, you have realized that you need the Lord in your life. Maybe you drifted away or need to be been born again? If so, you can stop right now and begin talking to God. Ask Him to forgive you for being a sinner and the life you have been living outside of His love. Surrender your life to Him, unconditionally. Call Him Lord and make Him Lord of every thought, attitude, and action. You can say, Lord Jesus, forgive me for all my sins, come into my heart, and take full control of my life. I am your child from this day forward. Change my heart and mind to be Christ-like in every way. I confess Jesus is my Lord and Savior forever.
