rest

“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

Everything that is slowing you down, weighing on you, causing anxiety — may you surrender it to Jesus and experience a true rest like you’ve never experienced before.

Tired, weary, burnt out — so many of us have experienced the heaviness of being consumed by life. We get to a place where we break down and tell ourselves I will never let myself get burnt out like this, again. Yet, our lives seem to catch up with us and before we know it, we’re exhausted.

Maybe we try to manage our time better or don’t overcommit, maybe we decide to come back to a hobby later or meal prep so we spend less time cooking during the week. But sometimes, even with all of that preparation, it’s still too much.

It can be so easy to get caught up in how we feel when we get there, but what if we didn’t have to?

I come back to this verse over and over again where Jesus says, “I will give you rest”. It’s one of those versus we see on stickers and paintings; one we get used to seeing and maybe even know by heart. But are we truly living by it? Accepting his invitation and declaring it over ourselves, our families and our households?

In this chapter of Matthew, Jesus is extending an invitation for these people to set aside their burdens and experience rest in him. A true rest that can only be found in him. Not a physical rest, not a break from their lives, but a spiritual rest that spills over into everything else. And the good news is…he offers the same to us.

Friend, I encourage you to put this knowledge into practice today, to surrender your burdens to him. Everything that is slowing you down, weighing on you, causing anxiety — may you surrender it to Jesus and experience a true rest like you’ve never experienced before.

A rest that allows you space to breathe, to live, to enjoy the beauty of life; even in the midst of everything else.

With love,
Madison Leigh King

additional reading:

Psalm 62:1-2 / Hebrews 4:9-11 / Mark 6:31

centering prayer:

Jesus, we thank you for the opportunity to experience true rest in your presence. We thank you that we don’t ever have to carry our burdens alone and that we are able to set them aside for something that is easy and light. You carry us through and we are forever grateful. Amen.