living loved

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. – Matthew 11:28-30

Trying to make me rest is a whole lot like my youngest child wrestling her brother to the couch for a cuddle because he doesn’t like to rest either – cuddles are the secret coercion to making momma and bro-bro slow down for a minute. If we’re honest, this is most of us. I was busy when I was young, busy through college, busy as a newlywed, busy as a new mom, and still busy with a career, teenagers, and a preschooler. Busy, busy, busy. We tend to think that rest comes at 9:00PM plopped on the couch or getting ready for bed. Or maybe rest comes at the end of a long day of busyness and chaos. Rest may come on the weekend after we get all the chores done around the house or maybe rest comes on a much needed vacation where you still plan every minute of every day and every detail only to come home and say, “I need a vacation from my vacation.” If you’re like me, you have family and friends screaming at you to rest, but where do we find rest (especially if you don’t think you need it)?

Jesus had something to say about this rest. The rest he gives isn’t in front of the TV, on a cruise or beach, or on a wild mountain adventure. It isn’t found in magazines or on social media pictures of the perfect vacation for the perfect families. It isn’t for only those who can afford it or wish they could. His rest is for those who are weary and burdened. His rest is for those who know they need it and those who work and worry through the midnight hour. His rest isn’t as the world gives – a temporary short-lived moment – his rest brings a peace beyond understanding. His rest worked then and it works now. His disciples and followers were tired. They were weary. They had jobs and responsibilities and families. And they had this ministry unfolding before them as they followed the Savior. Life was busy.

Jesus says to take his yoke upon you for it is easy and his burden is light. He wants to exchange your heavy laden yoke full of busyness and chaos and time constraints with his – his yoke full of grace, peace, and easiness. How?

If you wrestle with rest like I do, this is intentional. It is me slowing down my brain, waking early to find quiet time with the Father, or going for a solo run (yes, running is rest to me). And when I don’t intentionally take time to rest, the Lord will force me to it (like a 17 day illness). Sometimes rest is relying and trusting others close to you for help – your village. Sometimes it’s music and praise or intentionally allowing the sun to shine on your face and the grass to graze on your feet. Rest is intentionally looking to the Father for who He is, and not what we are lacking in energy or zeal. When we wrestle with rest, we really wrestle with who God is and His provision. Rest is good. Rest is needed. Rest is exchanging your yoke for his. Rest is the slow down and for me the stillness of knowing who God is: Be still and know. . .

Rest is not a flight away, a cruise away, a beach away. Rest is not when you can afford it. Rest is now. Rest is in this moment. Rest is an exchange away. Stop wrestling. Just rest.

XOXO, Loni