How often have we seen a child, struggling to pour from a big milk jug, learning how to be independent and adamant ‘I can do it myself!’ So you step back and watch with love, knowing there will probably be a mess you have to clean up later. Don’t we as adults get stuck in the same situation with God our Father? Insisting… I can do it myself! I can figure this out on my own, only to have a big mess to clean up later.
Matthew 11:28-29 says ‘Come to me , all that labor, and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.’
As someone who struggles with anxiety, I’m constantly thinking… If I can think enough about my problem, I can figure it out. I can do it myself! But that’s not what God wants. He wants a deep personal relationship with us. He wants us to trust Him with our daily worries and burdens so He can help us through them.
The second part of that verse, ‘take my yoke upon you’… there’s a little more to it than that. A yoke is a large wooden cross piece that tethers two animals together (often a stronger one to a weaker one) as a means of governing them. I think we see this verse and think, as a human, it sounds like a work assignment. But that’s not what God is trying to tell us. God wants us to tether ourselves to Him so that He can help us carry our burden. Not only that, but so we can learn from Him on how to live life to be better children of God and better examples of how to live a Christian life to others. He wants us to learn to trust Him with all of life’s worries and troubles, to be fully connected to Him.
God is the ultimate loving father, watching with love as we struggle to do it ourselves. If we would just tether ourselves to Him and trust in Him, He is always there waiting to help us carry our yoke and to give us rest