I Will Give You Rest

COME TO ME ALL YOU WHO ARE WEARY AND BURDENED, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Matthew 11.28.

Some years ago, our large family had a reunion at a seaside resort. We were all hoping for a much needed rest from our daily burdens and responsibilities. Some are busy doctors. Some, professionals with commitments. The mothers needed a break from their endless chores of housekeeping and minding the children day and night. Kids, young and old, were looking for a welcome break from their homework and school assignments. It was fun and relaxing, spending lots of time with our grandchildren and children on the calm beaches and among the rolling waves.

That particular stretch of sea opens towards South China and the waves were high and often rough. I was amazed at the might and magnitude of the endless waves that came in crashing one after the other. Day and night for four days we could hear the sound of the wind and the sea! We left the sea but it will never stop roaring or making waves!” I wondered, “Does the sea ever rest? Do the waves pine for a break? No! The sea, I believe, finds its rest by being in the hollow of the hands of its Maker, doing His will and fulfilling its destiny!

We all need a break sometimes from what we are doing and a change from where we are toiling. But if we are looking forward to holidays for rest and relaxation these days, believe me, most people need a “rest” after their modern holidays! We need to realise that like the endless roar of the sea, our work is part of life and our destiny ordained by our Maker. Even in the Garden of Eden, God wanted Adam to keep tending it. Things got worse with sin. Now all have to sweat and slog for food! It will never change until life ends on earth and heaven begins for us.

However difficult and burdensome your work may be, you will not find rest by complaining or cursing. While many today die working, all of us have to work to live! The apostle Paul said, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat. We hear that some among you are idle. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat”(2 Thes 3.10-12). True, some people may make easy money but few are they and it never lasts!

Dear believer, what then are you to do, you who long for rest and lesser burdens! Go to Jesus who calls us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. . Learn to work with Him. Make Him your partner! Hand over your burden to Him – literally and not as a gimmick, mind you. When you are yoked with Jesus and both together carry out the job, He will bear the brunt of it! You will find the yoke easy and the burden light!

Wake up in the morning not cursing but praising God for a new day to do whatever your hand finds to do with all your might, may be the same as yesterday (Eccl 9.10). Take God with you where ever you go and whatever you do. That is walking with God. That is what Enoch, Noah, Joseph, Daniel and Jesus did! Look forward to opportunities to do good to others and be a witness for Christ in your market place. Until you learn to do it day-by-day and experience this new way of walking with God, you will never have true joy in work and rest while you work! It is being witnesses for God in your home and place of work!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to come to You each morning and find not only strength and happiness but also the rest that You give as I do the task You have ordained for me to do! Amen.