WRITTEN BY TIM LABRECHE
There he sat on the tattered couch in the silence of his quiet home. Broken. Shattered. Defeated. In the past month, Dean had the following spoken to him.
- “Surgery is the only option, but it’s still not a guarantee.”
- “I was expelled because…”
- “I was expelled because…”
- “Comply or lose your job.”
Is it any surprise that Dean feels like a pack mule with bag after bag after bag is being loaded onto his back? Tired. Knackered. Ready to give up. Can you relate to Dean’s situation? Maybe it’s not as drastic as what my friend Dean is going through, but we all have heavy bags in our own relationships, finances, jobs, and families. As Jesus was teaching in the towns of Galilee, he says this in Matthew 11:28-29:
“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.”
Jesus’ first instruction to us when we’re overloaded, crushed, and drained isn’t to figure out how we’re going to handle all of this. It’s not to make a list of what we need to do to get out of the mess we’re in. Not only have I met with friends whose first instinct is to do just that. I’ve been guilty of it too. It’s never ended well. Take note that Jesus’ first words are “Come to me.”
In Old Testament times, men and women didn’t have the access to God that we do. They had to go through a priest who took their concerns to God for them in the temple. There were inner rooms upon inner rooms making access to the God of the Universe incredibly restricted. When Christ died on the cross, God’s Word says that the curtain of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. That signified that no longer did we need a series of intermediaries to have access to our God. Ephesians 2:18 says that through Jesus we have been given access to the Father.
Jesus promised us that when we come to Him, he will provide us with rest. When looking up the root of “rest” in the Greek, it says that it causes one to cease in movement to be able to recover and renew their strength. Jesus promises us that if we come to him we will be able to recover and renew our strength. I love what it says next…
“Take my yoke upon you.”
Are you familiar with what a yoke does? It’s a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull. Let’s say that one horse alone can pull a total of 2,000 pounds on its own. Its brother has the ability to pull 3,000 pounds on its own. You would think that when you yoke them together that they would be able to pull a combined weight of 5,000 pounds, but that’s not what happens. When you yoke two animals together their ability to pull is greater than just the two of them combined. Those two horses can pull so much more than what their individual abilities would add up to. That is what is called synergy.
Take that principle and imagine what it would be like to be yoked with the one and only God who created the heavens and the earth. The God that is the Alpha and the Omega. What would happen to our problems if we were yoked with God Almighty? I’m not sure how you feel, but I would love that because we are weak and He is strong!
We’re not only instructed to take His yoke but to learn from Him. What does that look like? When two oxen are yoked together, they are constantly in close proximity. They don’t stray away from each other. When we’re yoked with Jesus, we don’t stray from Him. We spend time with Him. We learn from Him by spending time in His Word. It’s full of valuable gems that we need to continually draw closer to Him. We seek Him out in times of prayer. In those times when we go to Him, he is faithful to show us His ways not only for life, but in those situations that initially brought us to Him.
My friend Dean has been through the wringer. He is hurt. He’s been deflated. He is simply worn out. But Dean has one big thing going for him… he has yoked himself with God Almighty and he is promised rest for his weary soul and will experience a heavenly renewal.
What about you? Are you trying to figure it all out and struggling to keep your head above water? I want to encourage you to wave the white flag, go to Jesus and experience the peace and rest he has for you.
Ask Jesus what it looks like for you to be yoked to him. You may have learned how to survive in solo-mode, but you can experience so much more and encounter heavenly renewal when you invite him into what you’re going through.
