28 “Come to me, all you 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.”
Mattew 11:28-30
Life can be overwhelming. It’s good to admit it. There is the stress of school, sports, relationships, parents, friends, people drama, expectations, and the list goes on. Life can be stressful. Every added situation of stress lays another weight on our chest we carry around with us into our interactions throughout the day. The problem is, we’ve been taught to hide the stress. We’ve been told to carry it, yet to be unbothered. The weight begins to add up. It gets harder to breathe. We become more quickly exhausted and easily set off. It’s draining. The stress naturally sends us looking for a release, but all too often, in the wrong places. TV, pornography, gaming, substances, food, unhealthy relationships, and more are only distractions that offer no real peace and leave us more stressed than when we started.
But there is a person that provides peace. Jesus invites us to come to Him. Are you tired? Do you have burdens? You’re the person He’s inviting to rest. Learn from Him. Give Him your burdens and let Him give you His ways. His burden is light. He’s looking to provide rest for your soul.
He knows what it’s like to have stress. He knows what it means to be overwhelmed. He was overwhelmed to the point of death, according to the Scriptures. In the garden of Gethsemane, His sweat was dripping like blood. Why? He was given the ultimate weight to carry. He embraced the weight of our sin. It was the weight off your chest and placed onto His. He drank the cup of the wrath of God. He took on the weight of soul separation from the Father so your soul could ultimately find rest in the Father. He lost His breath, so you could breathe deep again.
The One who took on the weight of your sin doesn’t want to stop there. He wants you to trust Him with all of the burdens of your daily life. This is the light burden He gives you: to give Him your every burden. Let Him lead you and steer you, even when it seems hard. His yoke is easy. He’s gentle and humble. You can trust the One who gave you breath to lead you into life.
Response
What do you most often find yourself stressing over?
Where do you typically run with your stress?
What would it look like to trust Jesus with your burdens?
