Rest for the Weary, Rest for the Burdened
Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28 EHV
Rest for the Weary, Rest for the Burdened – Women’s Devotion
Are you enjoying a restful summer? Or has summer “break” been as hectic as ever?
Maybe it’s a different kind of rest you need. You might be dealing with aches and pains, a chronic physical illness, or a mental health challenge from which there is never a summer break.
Maybe you need a vacation from worry. Your mood darkens on these sunny days, and you realize you have been worrying yet again. Or perhaps you need relief from trying to control your circumstances. Maybe this day, this week, or this entire summer has not gone according to your plans, and you’re struggling.
Whatever form of rest we need, Jesus invites us to come to him and receive true respite. This offer encompasses every kind of rest, including the one that all of us desperately need.
Jesus points to this greatest need with his words immediately before Matthew 11:28: “No one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him” (verse 27). The rest we most need is the peace and security of a close relationship with our heavenly Father. Only through Jesus can the holy “Lord of heaven and earth” (verse 25) become our Abba Father, our Daddy. Only through Jesus, his perfect life lived in our place and his death to pay for our sins, can we rest from striving to earn the Father’s forgiveness, acceptance, and love. All these we have as a free gift. What peace for our souls!
This true rest for our souls forms the foundation for all other kinds of rest we need in this life.
When we are frazzled from overscheduling ourselves, Jesus reminds us that rest and enjoyment are good gifts we do well to build into our lives: “When anyone eats, drinks, and experiences the good things his hard work leads to—this is God’s gift” (Ecclesiastes 3:13).
When we are weary from our struggle with a physical or mental health challenge, Jesus opens his arms and promises: “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a).
When we are restless from worry, Jesus reassures us, “Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” (Matthew 6:26).
When we find ourselves exhausted from trying to control circumstances and “fix the chaos,” Jesus gently points out that we are not in charge. We can rest knowing that the One who controls the universe works “all things… for the good of those who love God” (Romans 8:28).
In Jesus, we find rest for body, mind, and soul.
Prayer:
Jesus, thank you for the true rest for my soul that you won for me. I give you my burdens and receive your peace. I look forward to the eternal rest of heaven with you. Amen.
Written by Mollie Schairer
