Our Hope: He Gives Us Rest

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28 (NASB)

This past week I have been on vacation with my 17-year-old granddaughter.  She has been here in our home for two weeks, and will remain for one more.  While I will be returning to work for some of this time, we do have a few more fun things to do before she returns home to another state.

This is my second vacation with Thelma since my journey with cancer in 2016.  While I am much stronger and healthier for the most part, I still have a few issues from radiation therapy.  So I get tired quickly, and have to rest more.  I have days now and then when I don’t want to participate in life outside of my home.  If I am not careful, I can sometimes feel depression knocking at my door. But I refuse to give in and limit my enjoyment of life in general, and especially for those times I get to spend with my loved ones.

There have also been many changes in my work, so much so that my position has pretty much mutated totally from what it once was.  I often come home from the job too worn out to do a thing, both mentally and physically.  But again, I keep moving on, expecting the next day to be just a little bit better.

So Thelma and I went to the beach this past week, and we had a great time.  We had excellent weather, and we did whatever we felt like doing each day.  We had no hard set plans except for a couple of things, but we found time for those and for anything else that popped up.  And we rested well at night.

And there it is…rest.  Rest is so important to all of us.  God created us to work hard, play joyfully, and rest well.  Our bodies and our minds require that rest to be able to function properly in all ways.  When we don’t rest, we do not feel refreshed or replenished.  We do not have the energy our bodies need, and our minds are not at the motivated state that we require for many tasks.

We all need vacations now and then.  But when we return to our normal lives, the daily demands of work, family, and life in general take a toll on us quickly.  Rest gives us the strength to navigate the difficulties and the busyness we face each day.  So where do we find rest that meets all these needs?

Jesus the Christ.  He offers each and every one of us rest.  His rest is not simply sleeping on a special mattress, or in a room with a perfect temperature or lighting, or with a particular level of quietness.  His rest is so much more. His rest penetrates to our very souls.  This is real rest.

Rest is truly not just for our physical condition.  We all have something that is a burden or a temptation, a worry or a fear.  But Jesus is bigger than anything we may suffer from, whether it be a burden on our soul or a situation that we face.  He can and will give us rest.  We only need to reach for it, to ask for it, to trust Him with our weariness.  He is our Hope, and because He is, He will care for us, each one of us, when we go to Him.  For He has asked you and I to come to Him.  Our Hope has the rest we need.  Give Him thanks for being willing to take our burdens, to help us, to give us His rest.

“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.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Matthew 11:29-30 (NASB)

Blessings!

When have you felt the need for rest, in a way that mere sleep would not suffice?  How did you resolve that situation? Please leave a comment and share your experience with us!