"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. ” ~ Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30
“The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.
‘The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.'" (Prov. 30:1)
Can you relate to the words of Agur son of Jakeh? I know I can! If you were to ask me how I’m doing on any given day, my immediate response will likely be “I’m tired.” In fact I’m tired of being tired!
There is a lot going on in our world that is weighing us down, not to mention the responsibilities each of us carry…work, raising children, tending our families and homes. And on top of that, we often carry the fatigue brought on by our insecurities and failures. There are numerous struggles and disappointments, unanswered prayers that we wrestle with on the day to day. And we never feel like we do enough, measure up enough. We are keenly aware of all our shortcomings and the sins that plague us. All of these things pile on top of our shoulders as heavy burdens and we feel weary.
The words that Jesus speaks to us out from the pages of Scripture are an invitation to find rest. “Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. “ Those words sound like a breath of fresh air on a hot and humid August afternoon! And yet these words of refreshment are followed with the words, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.” Wait…that doesn’t sound much like rest to me! Frankly, it sounds a bit more like work and that’s the last thing we think we need when we are worn out!
This offer for rest is an invitation to discipleship with Jesus. To take on Jesus’ yoke is to be a disciple of Jesus. And to be a disciple of Jesus is to learn from Him. And what is it we learn from Him? We learn to know Him. To be His disciple is to be with Him. To spend time with Him. Think about the gospels and the account of Jesus as He interacts with His 12 disciples. He is with them all day every day. They are listening to Him preach and teach. They are watching Him interact with the crowds. They see what elicits His compassion and His anger. They watch Him heal the sick and rebuke the religious rulers. They are privy to private conversations and teachings that others are not. They learn the secrets to the parables because Jesus reveals it to them. They are at the receiving end of His patient teaching and occasional rebukes. They are learning to live like Him, to be like Him, to obey Him.
In much the same way, we too get to experience the presence of Jesus with us. He has promised to be with His disciples to the end of the ages and that includes us. What a blessed rest we can have by living in the presence of Jesus each and every day! But not just living in the presence of Him, but learning from Him. He is not physically with us today, like He was to those disciples we read about in the Bible, but He is with us through His people (the church), through the study of the Bible, and by the Holy Spirit. Today we learn from Jesus as disciples by being fully engaged in body life centered on the faithful study of God’s Word. This, Jesus is teaching us, is where we find rest for our souls!
There are many things that are promising us rest. Vacations, good books, shopping, Netflix or Amazon Prime, naps. My go-to for rest is vegging on the couch with a good Jane Austen movie. Over the past several months of cancer fatigue, I have tried numerous ways of seeking to find rest only to have it elude me. What Jesus is offering is a deeper more satisfying rest that goes beyond the physical to rest for your soul. This rest can only be found in HIM. Surprisingly, when the burdens of life begin to wear me down, the best thing for me is to work. To get in Bible Study, to be with the people of God, and suddenly the things of this earth begin to grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
If you are struggling with fatigue, I want to encourage you to seek the soul-satisfying rest that can only be found in God’s presence, with God’s people, as you study God’s Word. You just may be surprised at how refreshing this will be to your weary soul!
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