GOD’S WORDS OF REST

“Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST” – Matthew 11:28

GOD’S WORDS of REST are the cure to the anxiety, perplexity, and pain in this restless world: “Come to Me, all 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” (Mt.11:28-30). God is saying to us individually, “Come to Me…”! We can come to God personally. We do not need an intermediary. Christ has bridged the gorge between humanity and divinity. His sacrifice and death on the Cross is the eternal proof of how much God loves us and wants us to come to Him. Jesus didn’t have to come to this earth and die, but His extreme love compelled Him!

Jesus uses an image of two animals sharing the burden of work together, to describe a great exchange of our burdens for His Peace. God loves us so much that He offers to take our burdens off our shoulders, place them on His, and give us Rest in return. Wherever life has felt heavy or we feel buried under the world’s burdens, God offers us His Peace if we’ll take time to align ourselves with Him and “yoke” ourselves to His Word. If we are willing to come underneath Him as our Lord and Teacher, then we no longer carry the burden of figuring out life on our own. We are now able to live under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. It is only as we experience God that we become more like Jesus and can rest in Him.

God has not invited us to a life of profitless toil, but one of Rest in Him – the Rest of Faith: “For we who have believed do enter that rest…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” (Heb.4: 3a, 9-10). Finding God’s rest is not about trying harder, but about BEING more like Jesus. God’s Rest is for those who labour and are burdened; those who are striving to do it all on their own and failing. When we try to do everything with our own strength alone, our output will always be limited (Pro.3: 5-6). We’ll be heavy-laden: a state in which the spirit, mind, will, and emotions can’t function because they are weighed down and weary.

God not only assures that He’ll give the weary rest, He tells us how: by taking His yoke upon us and learning from Him. God gives us Rest from all of the world’s pains, including the following:

Rest from Addictions: “For sin shall not have dominion over you…” (Rom.6:14a). In Christ, we have Dominion over all forms of demonic torture such as lust for alcohol, tobacco, drugs, pornography, and other perversions. If we let Him, God will heal our hearts from the roots, and crush every addiction.

Rest from Depression: Depression hurts mentally and physically, and robs one of the ability to enjoy life. God wants us to live a full life and will heal our minds as we encounter His words and take steps of faith to find His rest.

Rest from Fear: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2Tim.1:7). We do not have to be afraid of anything in this world because God is with us and supernaturally protects and keeps us safe.

Rest from Hopelessness: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer.29:11). God has good plans for our lives, and we can rest knowing that no matter what we may be going through, if we trust God, all shall be well.

Now I can say: “Return to your REST, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you” (Psa.116:7).