Entering God’s Rest

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you 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.  - Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:28-30) Life can be pretty exciting and thrilling! You and I can go from strength to strength- conquering, succeeding, expanding, and the like. This is the way God wants us to live. We can get physically or mentally tired, but sleep and perhaps some time off recharges us and prepares us for new challenges and advances. But sadly, many people experience life as exhausting, too heavy, draining, or even unbearable. While this is a very common scenario, this is not what God wants you and me to experience. We can get tired and need sleep and perhaps some time off, but our hearts are supposed to be strong and we should remain confident as we move forward. If you continuously feel burdened and exhausted, you may need to re-examine your life with the guidance of the Word of God (the Bible) and God, the Holy Spirit. Living a continuously exhausted life is not the normal Christian life. It may be common, but it is not normal. Because the life of God is inside you, the Holy Spirit is guiding and enabling you, and the Word of God is refreshing and empowering you, you may get tired and need sleep and possibly some time off, but your spirit need not be overwhelmed by concerns. Now, there may be some short seasons or times that some level of exhaustion may happen in your life, but it does not have to be the defining ongoing reality in your life. You do not have to have a lifestyle of feeling burdened always. Are you exhausted and burdened? Do you feel continuously or constantly overwhelmed by things that seem to be too big for you? Is life or ministry more like something you just endure instead of something you enjoy? Don’t despair! There is hope and help for you. The Lord Jesus Christ will help you! He will give you rest! Regardless of what you are going through now or what you have been going through lately, there is rest from God for you! You will probably need to make some adjustments in your life. For example, you may need to trust more in God instead of depending mostly on what you can do. You may need to let go and trust God in some delicate areas or issues of your life. The power of God is available for you! No situation is too big that God can’t change it. But long-term change of circumstances requires personal change. Let go of the things that lead to a life of burden, and embrace the ideas of God that results to enjoying a life of rest in Jesus Christ! Lathur Badoy