Well Rested

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.

Overwhelmed

One day I called my dad, and as I began to tell him that I was overwhelmed, tears filled my eyes. My heart was so heavy and burdened. It was a time of my life when many new and exciting things were happening in relationships and traveling and projects and schoolwork. It was quite a lot. They were all good things, but in it all, I felt like butter on toast that was spread so thin. As I was sharing with my dad what was on my heart, he lovingly made me feel so secure as he simply sighed with me. All I could hear was the sigh of his voice. I was quiet, just sitting with the sound of his voice that helped me take a deep breath for a second.

He then asked me when the last time was that I sat still with Jesus alone and did not do anything. I thought about it, and I realized that it had been a while since I went to be alone—just me and Him and no one else. My dad said, “He wants you to.” He encouraged me to go and sit in the grass and watch the butterflies and not worry about being with anyone, not worry about any deadline, not worry about anything on my phone, but to simply focus on being with the Father. He explained to me that all of the burdens in my life that I had been taking on were never mine to carry, but that Jesus came to carry them for me. He reminded me that Jesus said, “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).

Renewed in Him

The next day I took action and did what my dad had suggested. I went to a quiet place alone and spent the day with Jesus. It was only us. I did not work or get on my phone, but I simply prayed and read His Word and breathed in the fresh air as the wind danced through the trees, and I colored a little bit. It was so refreshing to go away and spend alone time with Him and let Him give me rest because that is what He loves to do for us. He knows that we need it even when we don’t realize that we do. This is why in Psalm 23:1-2 David writes that the Lord, who is our Shepherd, makes us “lie down in green pastures.” He is the One who “leads [us] beside quiet waters.” He knows what we need.

When my heart is overwhelmed, He leads me to the Rock that is higher than me, and it is only in Him that my strength can be renewed (Psalm 61:2; Isaiah 40:31). Just as I was able to call my dad when I was overwhelmed, we were made to call upon our Heavenly Father when our hearts are overwhelmed, and in the most comforting and secure way, He will sigh over us and meet us right where we are. Jesus said that He is gentle and humble in heart and that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. He wants to spend one-on-one time with you and me.

A Beautiful Rhythm

We cannot function in the way that each of us was designed to function if we are not making it a priority to spend time alone with the very One who made us in His image (Genesis 1:27). Looking at the life of Jesus, we see that He would be healing the sick, and then He would retreat to be alone with His Father. He would be teaching the crowds, and then He would depart from them to be alone with His Father. He danced in such a beautiful rhythm of going to a quiet place to pray, and if it was necessary for Jesus to go to the Father in solitude, then it is necessary that we routinely do that as well. Jesus lived in such a way that we should live as He did (1 John 2:6).

He wants us to come to Him and enjoy His presence. For any relationship to grow, we must spend time together—and that applies to our relationship with God as well. He wants us to come and dance with Him, and He wants to show us the flowers that He is blooming for spring, and He wants to reveal sweet treasures of His Word to us. He wants to show us priceless qualities that He knitted within us that we have yet to see. He wants to laugh with us. He wants to give us rest.

We were not made to be anxious and overwhelmed and exhausted but, rather, at peace, at rest, and restored.