A few days ago the majority of the ladies on my team decided to take a 2 day beach trip which normally I would be quick to join in on! For those of you that know me well know that the beach is my happy place and that I love adventure! So for me to turn this down probably seems out of the norm. But one thing I’ve been learning about myself is that I need time to recharge and rest. Sometimes that looks like turning down an adventure with the ladies, no matter how difficult it may be.
To catch you up a bit, our time in Peru thus far has been very busy! Our days have been jam packed with planning events, having the events, doing service duties (cleaning, painting, etc.), meeting as a team, meeting with our hosts to debrief the day, and more. So for our two days off I decided turning down the beach trip was the best option for me. And guess what, it turned out to be exactly what I needed! WOOHOO! 🙂
During those two days, I spent a lot of time reading, listening to podcasts, and listening to country and worship music, and spending time on the roof soaking up the sun. Can you say, peaceful? You betcha! I even ended up reading something pretty cool and knew I had to share with you all! I hope at least one of you finds it encouraging. I sure did!
_____________________________________________________________
“28 Come to me, all 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.”
Matthew 11:28-30
You may have heard this or read this verse many times. You’re not alone. But as I read through it this time it hit me differently. There is actually so much depth to it!
In verse 28 Jesus says come to me ALL who are weary and burdened. He doesn’t offer this for only some people and not others. This is an invitation for all who follow Him. He goes on to promise them rest. He doesn’t say anything about giving us rest when we are striving and trying to do things in our own strength. He says He will give us rest when we come to Him and seek Him for help. He is relational. Who wants a one sided relationship? Not this girl. And it appears Jesus doesn’t either.
Verse 29 says if we take up His yoke and put it on ourselves, we will learn from Him. He wants to teach us. I believe He still tries to guide us even when we are distracted with life. I’ve learned that it is harder to hear from Him or know what to do when I jam pack my days with things from sunup to sundown. I know life can get busy with work and wanting to maintain a social life but our Father in Heaven desires to be a priority as well. He created us and yearns for relationship with us. It’s not something He forces us into. It is an invitation.
The rest of that verse says that He is gentle and humble in heart and that we will find rest for our souls. I love this part of the verse for a number of reasons. 1) It is way easier to have a relationship and have a conversation with someone who is gentle and humble. 2) When we come to Jesus with the things we’re struggling with and can’t carry on our own, He promises us rest AGAIN! I love that Jesus said it a second time as if to remind people in case they forgot. How quick we can forget God’s promises.
**Recap from what we’ve read so far; He has promised to give us rest, teach us, to be gentle and humble and all we have to do is come to Him; to spend time with Him. It really is that simple! 🙂
Earlier on we talked about God being relational. Do you think He wants us to come to Him because we feel obligated to? Or because it is something we feel we need to check off our list of things to do for Him? No. It should be because we truly desire to spend time with Him and seek His will in the things we are doing. ~ I used to get caught up in more of a performance based mentality. I lost sight of what relationship with the Father looked like and instead I was caught up in trying to earn His love. I was filling my days with outreach, going to church, spending time with friends, posting inspiring things on social media, etc. I was even sending up prayers expecting Him to answer when I was giving Him less than a 1% chunk of my day. To me that doesn’t sound like relationship, it sounds more like a twisted perspective and religion. What I later realized was how much I was missing it. I was hardly spending any time with the One who Created me! (Sorry to get off on a tangent. I just get so pumped to share these things because my eyes are being opened to the beautiful and deep relationship that Jesus invites us into).
Back to the Scripture. In verse 30 Jesus goes on to say that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. This leads me to believe that even during the mediocre seasons and even the super difficult times in life we can still find rest and let Him take the weight of what we are going through. I know it may sound crazy but it is so real and true!
When I pause and reflect on the more difficult seasons I’ve walked through, I realize that when I tried to keep myself busy or my mind occupied, the things I struggled with either got worse or I ended up compressing until a later time. But when I seeked Him with my whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13) no matter what, I found rest and peace that surpasses understanding. We’re so #blessed! =D
_____________________________________________________________________
Wow! Isn’t the Word of God so encouraging?! If any of you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to leave them below or send me a personal message. Thanks for reading. 🙂
Much love.
