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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.
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

How are you at following recipes? I can tell you stories of my own experiences not following recipes exactly. Sometimes I’ve gotten tablespoon and teaspoon mixed up. Sometimes I’ve mixed up ingredients or left some out. I’d love to think I’m one of those cooking channel stars, but the reality is, I’m not even close! During the holidays I get inspired to try all kinds of new recipes.

When I read this verse above recently, it struck me how God just laid the directions or recipe right out for us to follow.

During this time of the year, can you relate to any of these words?

• tired
• worn out
• exhausted
• “burned out”
• anxious

What is the answer from this verse for all these feelings?

Rest.

That seems to be what I want most right now in my life. This widow-life makes me weary. I am just flat-out tired.

So the answer is REST but how do I get there? How does this verse help me find REST?

• Come to Me: Have you avoided spending time in God’s Word because you are angry with God? Avoidance of Scripture doesn’t help your weary soul. Ask me, I know… Jesus opens His arms, saying, “Come back to Me, sweet daughter.”
• Weary and burdened: Grief wears a person out. We understand weary. Add the burdens of the holidays, and we have the perfect recipe for exhaustion. We have the burdens of caring for aging parents. Burdens of our own health or the health of our children. There are the burdens of relationships. Burdens of family celebrations that have changed.
• Take My yoke upon you: We need to remove the yokes we are currently wearing. The yokes I pile on are “image”, “sin”, “expectations”, “busyness”. What are yours? I imagine myself with all these yokes on my shoulders while Jesus stands there with a yoke made for me, fitting perfectly. I am weighed down under the yokes I have placed on my back. They don’t fit my shoulders, they rub sores, and they don’t provide any kind of relief for my weary soul. I can choose to keep piling on the yokes of my own making or receive the one made by my Creator for me specifically. That probably includes giving up control–such a challenge for me. What yokes are you wearing that are not from God?
• Learn from Me: I need to study His life. He is “gentle and humble”. Probably the two words we need most as a widow, when you think about it. Gentle with those thoughtless comments and lost relationships. Gentle with those who don’t understand grief and loss. Humble when needing help, and we do need help more than ever before. Where do I need to use gentleness and humility so I can be more like Christ?
• My yoke is easy and My burden is light: Yokes are heavy by their very nature, so how can Jesus say His is “easy” and “light”? I believe it goes back to taking His yoke on our shoulders. Perhaps it isn’t as heavy as it looks. The yokes I am wearing most days are not easy or light. They are heavy and wearisome. I want to shed these heavy ones and wear the easy, light one He has for me.
• “And you will have rest for your souls.” Isn’t that what we all want anyway? What we are longing for? Especially during the holiday season.

Let’s follow the recipe He gave us and find the rest He offers. It isn’t merely jumping on a wagon of “positive thinking” or just faking it. He PROMISES to give rest in exchange for taking His yoke upon our shoulders. Let’s shed the yokes we put on ourselves and take His.

Lord, You are our Creator. You promise rest. Help me stop looking everywhere else for rest. I want to be still and turn to You. For too long I have worn the cumbersome yokes. I need the rest You offer. Amen