What One Would Think Ain't Always the Way Things Is!

Friday evening, January 4, 2008
This is what Jesus had to say to those of us who become weary and heavy-laden: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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 SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light” (Matthew 11:28-30; NASB). Because this is Jesus speaking, I know that it is true, BUT sometimes I do wonder if He is saying what He appears to be saying. His yoke might be easy and His load might be light (I am sure that they are!) but from all indications, I haven’t quite learned how to make practical application of this in my own life.
If you notice, He is telling us to “learn from Him,” if we expect to grasp this, which I surely want to do; however, I am beginning to think that I am a much slower learner than I have previously believed—not the brightest lamp in the room, kind of thing. I mean, gosh!, this notion of rest sounds great to me—not the kind of rest one needs after raking the yard or digging a ditch, but the kind of rest one needs when he is “soul-tired.”
To tell you the truth I have never used that phrase before now, but it is a very good one—descriptive, to say the least. It is one thing to be weary from raking leaves or digging ditches, but it is quite another to be weary and, yes, “heavy laden” from having to deal with those things that are of the soul—mind, will, and emotions. Unlike the weariness that results from manual labor, it is the kind of weariness from which recovery is difficult—very difficult—because it never seems to take a break. It is the kind of weariness that would be similar to raking leaves, not for an hour or so, but week after week after week, without any breaks, except worse. REST FOR YOUR SOULS! Now that sounds great to me but enjoying it is another thing.
You remember the story of the man who was walking down the road, carrying a very heavy backpack, stumbling along and barely able to put one foot in front of the other, when someone stopped in a pickup truck to offer him a ride, which he gladly accepted. He climbed into the back of the truck and off the driver went, merrily down the road, until he looked in the rear view mirror and saw that the man was still carrying the heavy backpack! Sometimes, I think I might be that man; to be sure, I do seem to be carrying quite a bit, in spite of the fact that Jesus offered me such an incredible ride.
Now don’t panic on me, as I do have and enjoy “spirit rest”. Long ago, I learned and believed that I am His and nothing can change that—absolutely nothing—and when I did, I stopped striving to gain what was already mine—spirit rest. I can tell you with integrity that I am not weary or heavy-laden with worry about my relationship with Jesus; I am truly resting in Him, which, I might add, is a good thing, a very good thing—the most important thing—because all this other “stuff” will pass away!
Even so, Jesus did tell us that if we would come to Him and watch Him (learn from Him) when we are soul-tired (weary and heavy-laden; mind, will, and emotion tired), He would give us rest for our souls! Well, just for the record, I am watching Him, as carefully as I can, purposing to learn from Him—quickly—because I really could use some soul-rest!
If I could just learn to drop the backpack from my own shoulders into the bed of the pickup truck—
One would think that after 50+ years as a Christian, I would have learned this long ago, but what one would think ain’t always the way things is!