Rest Regardless of Distressed Circumstances

I have been thinking about rest recently. Having caught a summer cold that turned into a sinus infection, the fatigue that seems to last well past other symptoms has made me desire more physical rest. The start of the fall semester at Alaska Bible College in one week makes getting more physical rest less possible! Though physical rest is necessary, spiritual rest is so much more important and eternally consequential. The unrest that spews from the news and social media outlets invading our cancel culture, has spurred me to think and pray more fervently for the soul-rest that believers in Jesus can have.

Our Lord invited his followers and the unbelieving crowd to His rest during His teaching ministry in Galilee. Matthew, one who was not a stranger to stress, is the only gospeler who records Jesus’ powerful words:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV).

The invitation to come and learn from the Lord is not a command in the original language of the New Testament, but rather, it is an interjection! So often we are so stressed with the circumstances of our lives that we need our Lord to get our attention. His invitation here is more like, “Hey are you coming?” or “You hoo...are you paying attention?” We will never experience the rest that our Lord provides if we are too busy to hear His invitation to come and learn from Him so that we can rest with Him.

The invitation to come is followed by the Lord’s call of commitment to “learn from Me.” The “taking of the yoke” of the Lord is a beautiful picture of how our Savior brings rest to our souls. The yoke in the New Testament time brought together two oxen. As is true in Amish communities today, farmers would bring together an experienced animal with a less experienced animal and yoke them together so that learning in the yoke could take place.

The astounding nature of the Savior’s invitation is that He longs for us to join Him in the yoke so that His power, His wisdom, His character can rub off on us as we carry out His purposes in our lives! The yoke is not a passive place of kicking back relaxation. The yoke was designed to get the farming job done! Nevertheless, the result of heeding this invitation to commit to the yoke with Jesus is that we will find that He is gentle and lowly in heart. Far from being wimpy, our Lord’s gentleness is one of considerateness. He is thoughtful of us in the yoke. Nor is he an arrogant know-it-all. Though He knows it all, he is humble to the very core—He is lowly of heart.

The result of committing to the yoke with Jesus is rest for our souls. So often we think that if our circumstances were less distressed, we would have less stress! Learning from Him in the yoke is the only way for true soul satisfaction. Only He can satisfy the deep longings of our hearts. And...because He is in the yoke with us, even in our deepest distress, the yoke is easy, and the burden is light.

Are you resting in your soul with your Savior? He invites us to come and commit to active learning from Him. In the yoke

Dr. David Ley is the President of Alaska Bible College.