Tired?

Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  

It seems that seldom a day passes that I do not hear the words from someone: “I’m just so tired that I can hardly function." This is especially ironic in light of the fact that we live in an era of more laborsaving devices than ever before.

Think about it: In days gone by, a farmer had to till the ground in the spring, plant the corn, cultivate it during the growing season, harvest it in the fall, husk it, grind it and at last have a sack of beautiful yellow cornmeal. Seldom did he complain of being tired.

Today we get in our air conditioned (or heated) automobile, drive two blocks to a gigantic super market with shelves of yellow cornmeal, white cornmeal, blue cornmeal—and all of these in a variety of grinds. When we return home we are exhausted from all of the effort! Right! 

One of the major causes of weariness are the burdens we carry around with us. Burdens can come in the form of physical difficulties, emotional conflicts, loss of loved ones, financial or business reversals, feelings of hopelessness, on and on we could go. Whatever the source, it is like a heavy weight on our shoulders that crushes us down. I understand those feelings and this is the overall outline of what we may think of as burdens. You and I alone know what our burden may be. 

But…What do we do about it? 

It may be relatively easy to identify the particular burden or burdens in our life, but what then? We are often tempted to deal with the burdens ourselves. We can do this by trying to have a positive attitude, by seeking counsel from trained counselors, or perhaps group sessions. While these may have some value, they will always fall short of the mark if Christ is not the central source of strength.

The teachings of Jesus are always simple and direct. He shares His message in such basic terms that even children or the uneducated are able to know what is being taught. He says very simply, here in Matthew 11, for all who carry burdens to come to Him. Notice it was not just for some, but for all, to come to Him. 

That is a fundamental truth with no exceptions. We just come to Him, and He promises that He will give us His rest. The rest that Jesus promises is not merely for tired bones, or for aching feet, it is for burdened hearts as well. But it does not imply that we come and flop down in front of Him and do nothing. There is more than inactivity involved.

Jesus says that we are to take His yoke upon us and learn from Him. 

Being yoked with Him means that we are with Him in all that He does. Where He goes, we go. Where He stops, we stop. It is a constant process of being with our Lord in everything. It means speaking with him in intimate prayer morning, noon and all through the night. It means asking him for direction in the daily ins and outs of living.

Now this might seem like adding another weight to your already heavy load, but wait! There is a big difference here. When we are yoked together with Christ, He is the one who is bearing the load. He can and wants to do that for every burden that we are carrying right now.

He also says that in doing this, He is gentle and humble in heart. He does not preach at us or lay a guilt trip on us for getting into the jam we are in. He quietly takes the burden away and gives us his warm, sweet presence in return. 

What a great exchange that is! We trade our heavy burdens for his sweet presence. 

That is an offer we need to take advantage of immediately. 

Blessings on the journey

Rev. Imani N. Dodley