Help Is Available
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30, ESV
In the passage above Jesus invites everyone who is burdened, or heavy laden to come to him and he would give them rest. The word labor in greek is Kopiao and it means: labor, to grow weary, tired, exhausted with toll or burdens, grief and to labor with wearisome effort, bodily labor, toiling and is translated “bestow labor.” In this passage Jesus is not saying I will take all your hard work away, but he will give you rest in your “inner man” in your soul. When we take him on and seek to learn from him, he will teach us his ways so we can leave worry, fear, doubt and all those emotions that cause us to be drained on him so that our inner man can rest in joy and peace.
The word “rest” in the passage above means to refresh so as to recover strength. We consistently have so much information coming into our inner man that our brain does not get the opportunity to rest. Jesus is saying if you come to him and take on his yoke metaphorically to take on the submission of his authority rather than Satan’s; which we all are currently under because of sin and you will have rest.
Satan’s job is to devour us; especially since we are yoked up with Christ. His goal is to steal our rest and peace. One morning I woke up and all the cares of the world hit me. A list of all the things that I needed to get completed was waiting for me as I opened my eyes. Instead of speaking God’s word, I let my mind focus on what was before me and my peace was instantly gone. My stomach ached and my mind and soul was in turmoil. I could feel the heavinesses weighing me down.
I knew that prayer would release this burden. So, I headed down to my prayer room. I prayed and I worshipped God. As I worshipped God I could literally feel the turmoil leave and peace return. The more I praised God and gave thanks the more peace and joy came over me. I could feel the Holy Spirit taking away all the heaviness and replacing it with rest. My burdens had become light! Jesus teaches us that he inhabits the praise of his people. As we praise him, he comes in and his presence overshadows anything that we are dealing with! We get all of him and he takes all of our concerns.
I still had to get all those items completed, but God directed my path in such a way that every task was easy and light. I was not doing the work alone, he was in the midst of guiding me to completion. I’m reminded of the scripture, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5-6
Key points:
Help is available to anyone who accepts it.
Rest, joy and peace are knocking at your door.
Praise brings deliverance to the soul.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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