Learning to Rest

Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you, and learn form Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.
Matthew 11:28-30


Observation:
Times of rest and re-creation are indispensable in our lives. Our daily routines are charged with difficult decisions, trials, pressures, responsibilities, disappointments, victories, and many more. Our design set by our Creator requires a time when all these experiences, both good and bad, settle down and cool off. People in the world understand this principle very well. Rest is necessary in our society, and our schedule and calendar have been set in order to rest. But usually our time to rest becomes something else. Many people find themselves using the time of rest to catch up, or to have a second job. Others protect that time to rest by lying down in a couch and vegetate at least for a day. Both extremes are wrong. We really need to learn to rest the way wants us to. Rest is not about leisure or laziness. It’s about coming to Jesus to lay down our burdens.
The times of rest should be to find a special time of intimacy with Jesus. At these times we should be able to trade the weight of all the ups and downs in our life for the load of the Lord. We cannot do this by sleeping all day, or by watching TV, or by staying away from God. Rest without coming to Jesus is not rest at all.


Application:
Usually on my day off there’s a lot of stuff to be done. Family and personal errands, fix one thing here and there, make some phone calls, etc. All these things are not bad necessarily, but if not careful, they will take away the precious opportunity that I have during that day to come to Jesus and find rest in Him. The load I carry during the week is heavy and usually slows me down if is not traded for the load of the Lord. We must do it that way because we usually load ourselves with things that God is not asking us to do. But as we come and rest in Him, the Lord will reload our lives with the things He wants us to carry on, and He also gives us the strength, the wisdom, and the resources to do it well. In this way, the Lord provides us with renewed energy and increased effectiveness to live according to His will.
As I evaluate the way I rest, I must make serious improvements in my daily regimen. I must learn how to keep my Sabbath holy, listening to God, allowing Him to direct my life, and trading my heavy load for His load. During this season of major change, my regimen and consistency has been affected. I need to find my way to a relevant and effective regimen that will honor what God requires from me and that allows me in a weekly basis to unload my burdens and load myself again with the strength of the Lord. I depend on God for all my daily affairs and I need His wisdom. As I rest the way He wants me to, the Lord will truly rule my life and take my from glory to glory into his likeness.


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please forgive me for not being disciplined in my way to rest. Please grant me a desire to be at your feet and to seek you while I’m resting. Let me experience your presence and strength in my entire being, soul, mind, and body. I cannot deal the challenges I face daily on my own. I need not only your input, but also your anointing to execute your ways in my daily affairs. Please help me to be diligent in setting my times of rest in such a way that I trade my load for yours. Let me find rest in you. You are my rest and in you I always find the source of everything I don’t have. I love you Lord. AMEN!