Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
If you are heavy laden with a great burden, Jesus says, “Come unto me, … and I will give you rest.” It is interesting that He should use the word ‘rest’. He doesn’t say, come unto me and I will take all of your problems away. He doesn’t say that He will solve every difficulty in our lives. What He does say is that He will give us rest in the midst of these problems.
Think about how conflicts and problems affect our lives: we get upset, we get all nerved up, we worry, we fret, we can’t sleep — these symptoms can go on and on. (Now, the word ‘rest’ takes on a whole new meaning. It is exactly what we need during these times!)
This rest is available to all of us. Our responsibility is to take our cares and burdens to Jesus and — this is important — leave them there. Trust that He is taking care of them – even when you cannot see how He is working. Rest in this knowledge and rebuke any hint of taking the problem back. Unfortunately this is a tendency we all have – we give a burden to God and in a very short time we are back to fretting and worrying about it again. This is not the trust that will result in rest.
Remember Jesus says…….COME TO ME — TRUST ME — FOCUS ON ME…….and the problems of life will take their rightful place and you will have rest for your souls.
(This devotional is an excerpt from the book “I Want to be a Better Me For God” chapter 9)
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