Finding Rest

"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

            I love this verse.  There are times when I am so emotionally or physically spent I feel like I can go no further.  I can work for hours and fall asleep right away when I am physically exhausted, and often find this is a deep, restful sleep.  There is great satisfaction from knowing I’ve worked hard and can actually see the “fruits of my labor!”  There is a sense of accomplishment as I stand back, for example, and see the windows on my house completely clean again, or the flower garden completely free, albeit short lived, of weeds!

             When I am emotionally spent, however, I am often robbed of my ability to sleep.   My body is tired, but the rest of me just won’t shut down.   Even when sleep does finally find me, I feel like I haven’t slept at all.  I am as tired when I awake as when I closed my eyes.  I know I’ve been asleep only because the arms on the clock have changed.  It seems my mind has kept up its motion and work, allowing for the trial before me to churn endlessly in my head.  It may be a complex situation dealing with my children, something work related, a health situation or other issue that I simply have no control over.  Yet, I find myself distraught regarding the problem.

            It is at these times I find this verse most comforting.  God doesn’t expect me to fight my battles alone.  In fact he requires I trust him in times of great difficulty.  It is here I draw closer to him and grow in my Christian faith.  This doesn’t mean it is easy, however.  Many of us feel the need to control the situation and make something happen.  It’s difficult to say, “Okay, Lord.  It’s all you.  I let go of this crisis and give it to you to handle.”  One friend says sometimes there’s even a tug of war with God about who is doing the most to conquer the problem.  She says she gives her problem to God and then takes it back!  I expect most of us do the same thing.  We are human, after all!   Things just don’t happen as fast as we believe they should, or in the way we expect.  

            Still, there is comfort in this verse.  God says he will take my burdens.  He loves me, he knows me and he knows what is best for me.  If I allow Him to take the problem, and keep it, I can find tranquility in these truths, accept his rest, and welcome the peace that accompanies it.  It is here I can sleep without distress!