Tag Archives: i will give you rest

August 21, 2024 · 5:33 AM

Being Vulnerable

Have you ever been in a group setting where the opportunity to be vulnerable in front of the group came up and there was a long pause of awkward silence? Inside you wanted to be vulnerable, but the voices quickly rushed in that said they were going to make fun of you, no one else would be vulnerable and that no one would like you if they knew that about you. Your heart started pounding through your chest. Your throat tightened up. You didn’t know what to do. I’ve seen. It go both ways in that group. One where everyone stayed silent and one where someone stepped out and shared. The one where the person was vulnerable opened the door to deeper relationships and stronger community while the other group stayed very surface level and growth was inhibited.

In Matthew 14, Jesus put the disciples in a boat and sent them across the Sea of Galilee while He remained behind to pray. That night, while they were a long way from Jesus, a storm blew in. The waves beat against the ship. The rain poured down and the wind was trying to impede their progress and push them backwards. Just then they saw a crazy sight that scared them. They saw someone walking on the water. Fear gripped their hearts. Was it a ghost? Was it coming to attack them? A voice called out trying to calm them saying it was Jesus. Peter, decided to be vulnerable in that moment of uncertainty and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (ESV). He wasn’t sure if it was Jesus, and he knew he couldn’t walk on water, yet his vulnerability allowed him to get out of the boat in a storm of rain and fear. He was the only one who walked on water that night.

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus gives us the opportunity to be vulnerable with Him. To admit you can’t do it on your own is hard. To say you need help isn’t easy, yet Jesus extends His hand to us the way He did to Peter that night as He began to sink and called out to Jesus. If you could carry the burden and do everything on your own you wouldn’t need faith or God. By going to Him, admitting you can’t do it and casting your burdens on Him, you’re giving Him margin to move in your life. You’re giving Him the opportunity to call you out of the boat onto a storm tossed sea to walk with Him. Will you be vulnerable enough with Him to do that or will you stay in the boat? One truly offers rest and the other a false sense of security. The more vulnerable you are with Christ, the deeper your relationship will be.

Photo by Egon Filkor on Unsplash

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July 5, 2023 · 5:37 AM

Bothering Jesus

I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to bother famous people. If I see them in public, I’ll usually make eye contact and nod instead of trying to go up to them because they get it all the time. Several years ago I was at a conference put on by a household name. You could pay $150 to get a professional photo with them, but I had already spent a ton on the conference, plus flight and hotel. They told us that if we couldn’t afford it, we could ask them for a photo when we saw this person walking around. Sure enough they happened to walk right past me with their entourage. I called out, “Could I get a quick photo with you?” They stopped, but didn’t turn around to face me. A person in the entourage said, “They’re a busy person who can’t be bothered. We can’t stop and take photos with anyone who asks. You should sign up for one.” I bit my tongue in that moment, but lost a lot of respect for them.

In Mark 10, Jesus and His disciples were sitting around talking. A group of parents noticed Him and thought that they would take their kids over to be blessed by the Messiah. As they approached, the disciples jumped up and stood in their way. They scolded the parents for bothering Jesus. Verse 14 says, “When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children’” (NLT). It turns out He wasn’t bothered at all by these people who simply wanted to request a blessing.

I’m afraid that you and I feel like we’re bothering Jesus at times with our prayers or requests. We don’t take them to Him because He has enough people bothering Him. If that’s you, I want to remind you what Jesus said in Matthew 11:28. “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” The phrase “all of you” jumps out. Jesus is inviting you and me to come to Him with our problems and burdens. He’s not too busy for us, nor is He overwhelmed by everyone else. It’s time to quit thinking you’re a bother to Him and to quit carrying that heavy load. It’s not yours to carry. He has a burden for you that is light and easy to carry, but you must approach Him. You are not a bother. You are His child.

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

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October 13, 2022 · 5:30 AM

No More Micromanagement

I’ve had some very different bosses throughout my working life. Some of my bosses could be referred to as micromanagers. They would give me an assignment, then breathe down my neck the whole time. They wanted it done their way or I would get in trouble. It was stressful and not very fun to work for them. Contrast them with some other bosses I’ve had that were overseers. They would hand me an assignment then back up and let me work. If I needed anything, they were always available to answer questions or give me feedback. I always felt like I thrived in that environment. I knew what was expected of me and I was able to do the work in a way that made going to work fun.

When Jesus walked on the earth, the religious leaders had made following God a lot like those micromanagers. They had a set of rules you couldn’t deviate from or they would call you out and embarrass you. They had their interpretation of living for God and forced everyone else to try to live that way too. It was burdensome and difficult. Contrast that with Jesus who took all their regulations and said they could be summed up by loving God and loving people. If they did those two things well, the rest came pretty easily. He removed the burdensome yoke of the law from our necks. In Matthew 11:28-30 He said, “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear” (TPT).

God is not a micromanager giving you a heavy load of regulations that’s impossible to bear. Christianity is not a bunch of “Thou shalt not’s”. Instead it is a spiritual oasis where we join our life to His and learn to love Him and others. He forgives your past and has given you permission to heal from it. You don’t have to live under the constant condemnation of what you were. In Him, you are a new creation. The old life is gone and He has created a new life in you. I love that He said in these verses that He’s easy to please. You don’t have to live under the stress of constantly fighting for His approval. He loves you, approves of you and has lifted your old burden that was weighing you down. It’s time to live in that approval and enjoy the relationship with Him that He offers.

Photo by Mukuko Studio on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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March 1, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Surrendering Your Yoke

One of my favorite deficit learning activities to do with managers is to put them into two lines facing each other. I give them some simple instructions and ask them to work together to put a pool noodle on the floor. The instructions are easy to understand and follow and the objective is clear. However, when you get a group of people who like to give direction rather than take it, the noodle goes in the opposite direction. The more it does that, the more they get worked up. They blame each other, yell at each other and bicker. I’ve let it go on for up to twenty minutes before. To get the job done, they simply have to let one person lead and talk while they follow directions. Simple, but difficult.

Following Jesus Can feel the same way. The Bible is pretty clear and has great instructions for how we’re to live. However, we don’t like to be told what to do. We’d rather tell Jesus what to do than to listen to Him. We end up arguing with other believers, become mad at God and get burned out. It can be frustrating trying to follow what He says on,y to find ourselves going the opposite direction that we’re supposed to. We end up not only fighting our flesh, but God as well. It quickly gets frustrating and we become tired trying to perform a bunch of rituals or formulas that we think will help. The solution is simple, yet difficult for us to do. Submit ourselves to Him and His authority over our life.

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light” (GNT). The life and rest we’re looking for starts with coming to Jesus admitting you can’t do it on your own. Then you must surrender to His yoke, bending your will to His so you’re working together. After that we follow in His footsteps learning from Him rather than trying to teach Him about our life. When we do that, we find His burden is easy, His yoke is light and we move in the right direction.

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April 26, 2016 · 5:30 AM

Letting Go


Tug of war is a great game we learned to play as kids. You can have one on one tug of war or team versus team. Either way, it’s a battle of strength and will. Each of us has played with that person who just lets go of the rope. Your body was used to keeping the tension by pulling against the weight of the other side, and when they release that tension, you go flying backwards. Now, any time you hold any weight with tension, you’re afraid you’ll fall down if that happens again.

Just like our body gets used to keeping the tension in tug of war, our mind can get used to the tension of carrying a burden. There’s a struggle. There’s tension. There’s the fear of what it’ll do to you if that tension is cut. You don’t feel like you can let go of the burden for fear of flying backwards and being made to look like a fool. Fear keeps you holding on to the weights you should’ve let go of long ago even after God has told you to let go.

You may not know it, but God gave you a promise in Psalm 55:22 about letting go of those burdens. It says, “Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail)” (AMP). If you will release the weight of your burden, He will catch you. He won’t let you fall and look like a fool. His desire is that you let go of that heaviness and hand it over to Him.

Just like in tug of war, it’s a trust exercise. You’re going to have to be the one to let go though. You’re going to have to be the one who releases the tension and says, “God, I’m letting go of this burden. You can have it.” God cares about your mental, physical, and spiritual health. Carrying a burden affects all three. That’s why He said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28NLT). You’ll be more productive, happier, and better rested when you let Him do the heavy lifting. 

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