Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
Take My yoke upon you and learn of 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.”  NIV / AMP

What a soothing invitation, Come to Me…and I will cause you to rest.

Christ gives every person an open invitation to come, to choose a different way to walk this life’s journey.  A different way, a different path from what this world has to offer.

I was struggling to remember this as the bondage of fear hung over me like a shadow I could not understand.

A few months after my husband died, my heart was heavy and weighted with sorrow.  It was heavy from the memories of the long journey with cancer, heavy from the loss of my husband, then my mom, and heavy for the uncertainty of the future.

By faith, I held on to the promises that I was not alone and the Lord would never forsake me or my family.

Then one day I remembered a book a friend gave to me to read to my kids to help them with their loss.  It was the children’s version of Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.  It’s an allegory of Christian’s search for salvation.  As I started reading and turning the pages, I realized Christian’s search would be my own personal journey of healing, restoration, and inward rest.

After reading the book I rented an animated video of Pilgrim’s Progress from the library.  The simplicity of the pictures in the book and the animation of the video depicted vivid pictures of the extreme weight we endure as we try to carry our load of burdens alone.  Eventually, we snap or collapse from the burdens of doubt, fear and endless striving as we hear the voices inside to do more and more – you’re not good enough.

Through the years one can become quite weighted under condemnation and bondage of sin.  Like Christian, we are confronted with endless arrays of temptations and the allure of materialism in Vanity Fair.  We may find ourselves crushed from the burden of depression and despair in the Slough of Despond.  Or we may become lost and locked in the shadows of fear and uncertainty as they eat away our faith in Doubting Castle.  The burdens we carry become so heavy we cannot walk straight as we strain to stuff them deeper and deeper as we cover them up.  Our smiling faces soon become distorted and our eyes cease to see the beauty around us or in the people we see because we are so consumed with the burdens we carry.  They may seem to be on the outside, but in reality, they are deep within our heart and soul.  They eventually strip away our joy, our dreams and our vision of hope.

Christ’s invitation is Come to Me, Learn of Me. You are covered in Grace.  Grace abounds wherever he is.

Are the burdens you carry bringing you to the point of breaking or collapsing from their weight, bondage, and condemnation?  If so, take to heart, Christ’s invitation to Come.     Consciously and deliberately gather them up and lay them at the foot of the Cross.  He will come along beside you and lighten the load.  You will find an inward rest and refreshment for your soul.

You will be amazed as you turn around!  Your heart will be free to begin to experience inward joy, start remembering your dreams, and see more clearly as your heart embraces the hope found in Christ.  Learn to let him love you, as he wraps his arms around you in his grace and your heart finds a home in him.

Perhaps this song, Give Your Heart a Home by Don Francisco will help.

Bless you!