DAY TWO || Rest
“Come to me all who you are weary and tired of carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28-29
When I think about this scripture, I immediately think of people in an airport carrying heavy bags and dragging massive suitcases. You’ve seen them. You’ve been them. You know the horrible feeling of arriving at gate A1 only to have your connecting flight leaving from gate Z1000 in ten minutes. All the while, you are lugging a carrying-on, diaper bag, purse and stroller all equivalent to the weight of ten thousand pounds. Inevitably, while running through the airport, all you can think about is how heavy your bags are. Every two seconds you adjust bags from one shoulder to another in hopes that it will lighten the load. The regret of not packing less is palatable. All you want to do is get to your final gate destination and Put.Your.Stuff.Down!
I have done quite a bit of traveling over the years and spent way too much money purchasing purses and suitcases in hopes to find the perfect solution to carrying all my stuff. Somehow I’m convinced there is a perfect bag out there that will make my load light. I’m still searching.
Isn’t that just like us. Instead of learning to “pack less," we just try to figure out new ways to carry more than we should. I think this is true spiritually as well. Life hands us stuff and we carry it around instead of setting it down. We find new ways to hold onto our disappointment, heartache, loss and more. We try to figure out how to carry the stress of a new job, a big life change or a setback instead of learning to let God do the heavy lifting in those seasons. All of 2020, and even now in 2021, we have all been confronted with the “total weight” we were carrying. And I think we can collectively say, it was over the limit. Now that we know, we have a choice. We can keep looking for new luggage or new ways to carry the heavy load or we can decide to set it down and let God carry it for us. The load of stress, disappointment, grief, heartache, anxiety, fear, anger and unforgiveness is impossible to carry. And let’s be honest, none of us really want to carry it. Oftentimes we don’t know how to set it down. Sometimes we don’t even realize we are carrying heavy loads because we are used to the weight. We don’t know there is a lighter option. But there is good news for you, Jesus already did the heavy lifting. He already carried a heavy cross bearing the weight of all our sin and brokenness thousands of years ago. He already destroyed its burden when He died on the cross and rose to life three days later, so that you and I don’t have to carry the heaviness anymore.
What I long to carry in EVERY season is the light load that God offers. However, I often try to lighten that load by taking a “break” or getting “rest” with a nap, vacation, or just “doing nothing” for the weekend. It never works. I can do all those things and still be exhausted. I can sleep for days and still wake up tired and burdened. The rest I need is not natural, but supernatural. And it only comes through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus desires to lift weariness and heaviness off of you. He wants to carry the hard things. He wants to give you rest that restores not only your body, but your heart, mind and soul. He wants to offer you His load of peace, joy, hope, love, freedom and rest. Of course, we get to choose what we will carry. But here’s the catch - the only way to not be weighed down is to lay it down. You have to COME into His presence and trade your load for His.
When you do, it’s like finding the perfect suitcase, or better yet, it’s learning to pack less.
Just like running to that final airport gate for your connecting flight, we have to RUSH into God’s presence to lay down our heavy loads and allow Him to carry the weight. We can’t just keep finding new ways to carry the weight ourselves. We must find ways to stay connected to Jesus. We have to stay in His presence until the heaviness lifts and something shifts in our heart and mind. We have to stay in His presence until we know that the only thing we are carrying is His load and not ours. So that no matter where we find ourselves, we know that we are carrying the right things. We rest in the promise of His light load.
GOD PROMISES TO REMEMBER
Exodus 33:14
The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
John 16:33
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Jeremiah 31:25-26
For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish. At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.