Do you feel overwhelmed with many things? We carry so many burdens that we sometimes want to shut ourselves off from this world. These past weeks, I have been stressed from work and other preparations needed for this holiday. I noticed that my way of coping is binge-watching series or comedy shows. I spent many hours just to entertain myself and veer away from thinking about all of the things that I think are contributing to my stresses. This helps me also to feel relaxed.
One day, I was listening to a preaching of Pastor John Clarke about resting, and he mentioned these verses on Matthew 11:28-29.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
I felt a sudden guilt because I knew I had been misplacing my way of resting by getting satisfaction from worldly things instead of giving in to God’s invitation to rest.
Oneof my favorite verses is Psalm 16:11, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” The joy amidst trials, sufferings, and hardships is always found in the presence of the Lord. These unpleasant circumstances that we have are a way for us to look beyond our present world.
During those times when we feel like we can’t get up anymore and we start losing hope, may we always remember to:
- Rest in the Lord. God’s invitation to rest in Him does not expire. We only need to be reminded that we can always rest our souls in Him. I like how Pastor John said that when a Sunday school teacher asked the children what “yoke” means in those verses and one shy girl said, “It is like the arms of the Lord wrap around ours.” What an inspiration from an innocent child. Truly, we can think like it. We all have limits. We cannot do all. But we can rest in confidence that God knows it all.
- Hope in the Lord. The most debilitating situation in a person’s life is to lose hope in living. We often hear “As long as you are alive, there is hope.” Yet, I believe that it’s the other way around. There is the will to live as long as we hope.” And, our blessed hope is our salvation in the Lord. That, we can always look forward to that day when there are no tears anymore. That day when pain will never exist. That day, when all we go through is worshipping and singing to God. That is the blessed hope amidst our difficulties here on earth.
Rest like taking a vacation, not working, or putting things under the rug at times can help, but these are temporal. It is always best to go to the Person who can give us rest and peace of mind in the middle of whatever crisis we are in. His name is Jesus.
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