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Learning to 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
I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels that life is busy these days. After all, when is it not? I must confess that there are times where I even wear my busyness as a badge of pride as I try to do more, accomplish more, and gain more. It can be easy to fall into the trap of feeling self-important, and tying our value and worth into what we do. Ultimately, this leads to an identity that moves away from who God says we are, and more to what we can achieve. Busyness is pervasive in all parts of our culture today, including the church. It’s no wonder we are seeing so much stress, anxiety, restlessness, and people burning out in a world today where it is increasingly hard to rest. A life of busyness without rest is not the way to live, nor is it the way that God designed us to live.
God’s invitation for us to take the Sabbath seriously and rest is a bold invitation for us to live in a way that goes against much of the world today. When we learn to rest from our busyness, we are saying yes to God and delighting in him. In our rest, we acknowledge that God is in control and that we can cast our anxieties, worries, and burdens to him. True rest and Sabbath is an act of trust in God’s promise that he is enough for us. As I continue to learn and live this truth in my own personal life, I am finding greater joy and experiencing a greater freedom in Christ. My encouragement for you today is to lean into God’s invitation to rest, and may you find his presence completely fulfilling in every way.
– Josh Chui, Canadian Pacific District