Come to me, all 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)
I have a go-to coping mechanism for dealing with the hard things of life.
When fear hits and my world is shaken, I pick up and pack up the problem and take off running. . .straight into my own head. And, friend, let me tell you—it gets a little crazy in there.
Inside my head, I hold entire conversations that never get spoken.
I live out, in vivid detail, endless versions of worst-case scenarios just in case they occur.
I analyze and finalize and prioritize until I am spinning in circles and downright exhausted.
Can anyone else relate?
Matthew 11:28-30 gives us a much better solution when we are feeling weighed down and worried—a solution that ultimately leads us not to exhaustion, but rest. And doesn’t that sound like just what we need?
I want to take some time to dig into these verses. Today, let’s look at the first step toward rest.
Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Do you hear that, friend? Jesus tells us to come to HIM.
We need to run to Jesus for salvation, trading our sin for his grace. He has rest from our failures and our endless striving to be enough.
We need to run to Jesus with our conflicts. Run to Jesus with our fears. Run to Jesus with our burdens. He has rest for our pain.
That kind of rest cannot be found in avoidance. (Binge-watching and a bag of chocolates, anyone?) It cannot be found in the frantic scrambling for control that comes with facts and plans. And it cannot be found in the swirling thoughts in our own heads.
True rest can only be found in our relationship with Jesus.
So the next time I pick up and pack up my burdens, I need to run straight to Jesus. He can carry what I cannot. He can give me rest.
Until next time,
Shelby
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