Mathew 11:28-30
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.”
Rest
This is a word I struggle with. Don’t get me wrong, I take time to physically slow down,
but those moments are far and few in between. My true struggle is to rest. What I
mean by that is, that it is difficult to stop working physically and shut down the brain at
the same time. My mind is always racing and it usually takes several days to get the
brain to shut off when we enter a season in which we should be resting. Katie over the
years has gone so far as to plan an extra day because it takes two just to settle down.
Rest is an important part of who we are. If the body and mind could function without it,
we would. Some of us try our best to exceed the limits but for everyone, there comes a
time when we will need to sleep, eat, and lay the burdens of life aside. Mathew tells us
to go to the Lord and he will give us rest. The entirety of Mathew 11 verses 29 and 30
hinges on this word. God wants to give his people rest from their burdens and peace to
their circumstances. The challenge lies in the first three words of verse 28; “Come to
me”.
We talk a lot about Quinny around the church. One of the biggest challenges we have
with him is obedience. We will say “come here” and he wants to challenge our authority
and say “no”. It’s infuriating but also speaks to the nature of who we are as people.
Whenever God asks us to make a choice, there is a natural tendency to rebel or say we
know better or as Quinny says “I don’t want to”. When Christ says “come to me” he is
giving us the choice. It’s up to us to see the need to rest or to say “no” I can do this on
my own or “I don’t want to”. Which is worse? Refusing rest or saying we don’t need it?
I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to follow the Lord and seek out rest in my life. In
a few weeks, Katie and I will be on vacation and it is a much-needed time to relax,
reflect, and seek God as a couple. During this time, to truly rest, I’ll turn my phone off
and try my best to separate from daily life for just a little while. If someone is in need,
LaWanna will be on stand-by and can handle any issue and will reach out for
emergencies, if necessary. I’ve lined up two awesome preachers for you while we are
gone and know they will bring a good word for our church in our absence. Here’s the
good news about taking time to rest. When we do, God has good things for us on the
other side. So be ready, we can’t wait to see what God does in our lives after we have
taken some time to rest!
Keep The Faith,
Pastor Tommy
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