Come To Me And I Will Give You Rest

By Ray Watson

Is your soul tired? Are you weary and heavy laden from the experiences of life? Jesus said, “come to Me all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest”. In a world filled with deadlines, stress and the need for the instantaneous, it can be hard keeping up with the fast pace and constant rhythm of life.

“Come to Me, all you 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.” Matt. 11:28-30 NKJV

In this bible scripture, Jesus’ response to all our busyness, heavy burdens and weariness is first “come”. But so often we don’t come. Instead we go round in circles trying to figure out situations. We stress out as we add one more thing to our to-do list, write one more check, fulfil one more person’s need and generally become more and more burdened. God knows your to-do list. He knows your schedule, your bills, the things that demand your time. In the midst of this He still says, “come to Me”.

Don’t start your year from a place of tiredness, frustration or burnout. God’s rest becomes ours when we come to Him. When we stop and take time to be with God, we receive His rest. Make time in your life to stop and rest. There is power in the act of resting. Not just the simple stopping of a busy mind and of activity, but the rest that is found when we come to Him and find that true place of rest in His Presence.

“I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). When Jesus said He would give us rest, it meant we wouldn’t need to go find it, earn it or spiritually strive to develop it. It is simply a gift God gives us when we come to Him - a gift of rest. So if rest is a gift, all we have to do is come to Him to receive it.

Many of us could immediately identify areas of our lives in need of rest. We take on heavy burdens and weary ourselves out with busyness and full schedules. Our lives take on a pressure and heaviness we were never meant to carry. No wonder Jesus said we should come to Him like little children. Their care-free view on life can challenge the tired, heavy soul we seem to develop over time. God is not surprised by our biggest worries, or deepest concerns. He knew them long before we did, and He knows the answer to them now.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stop our own labor – our own efforts of striving, trying to make things work. As Christians, we often find it difficult to walk in God’s gift of rest. Instead, we wear busyness like a badge and carry loads we were never meant to bear. Yes Jesus said He would bless the work of our hands, but blessing flows when we partner with Him and all our “doing” flows from a place of resting in God. Learn to team up with the Holy Spirit and trade your yoke for His. When we do, we will experience the peace and ease that flows when our work is in partnership with Him. As you go throughout your day, let your heart find that place of rest as you come to Him.

“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest” Hebrews 4:9-11 NKJV.