Learning to Let Jesus Help Lighten My Load

In review of Matthew 11:28-30 it says, “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” (RSV).

Bottom Line:

Yoke up with Jesus, he will help lighten your load and provide you rest.

What this means to me:

I can (and should) ask Jesus to join me in the load I have. When I come to him with it, he teaches me through his example. Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart. Following his example and yoking up with him provides peace. He makes it easier and helps to lighten the burden.

When I come to him, Jesus will give me rest. He tells me to take up a yoke with him. When I do, he teaches me. I can follow his example, for He is humble and gentle at heart. Doing so will help me find rest for my soul. For the yoke I share with Jesus is easy to bear, and he helps make the burden much lighter.

Jesus helps free up the pressure from burdens only if I let him. The rest he promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the end of all labor. A relationship with him changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose.

Responsibilities I have and take on will weigh me down. Even the effort of staying true to God. Jesus' yoke remains easy compared to the crushing alternative.

Also, It’s important for me to remember that Jesus doesn't offer a life of luxurious ease, the yoke itself is still an oxen's tool for working hard. But it is a shared yoke, with weight falling on bigger shoulders than mine. Someone with more pulling power is up front helping. Suddenly I'm participating in life's responsibilities with a great Partner, and now that frown can turn into a smile, and that gripe into a song.

So when I carry burdens and they are weighing me down, the answer is to do what Jesus says, “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 RSV).

For many years I never understood that verse, because I didn’t know what a yoke was. When Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you,” On the surface it sounds like taking up a yoke would just be something else to deal with. My burden is already heavy enough, I don’t need to take extra weight. However, a yoke is actually a board that has two arches in it that you put over two cattle so they can pull a cart.

The value of a yoke is that it halves the load. Without a yoke, one cow has to pull that entire load by itself. But if you yoke up the cow with another cow, then the two cows pull the load together, and the load is half as heavy.

When Jesus says to take his yoke upon you, he’s not saying he’s going to give me extra problems. Jesus doesn’t have any problems! He’s saying he’s going to share your problems. He’s going to share your load. He’s going to take your stress on himself and bear it with you.

Wow! Jesus uses three verbs in this verse: come, learn, and take. Jesus says, “Come to me. Team up with me. Then, learn how I do it. Take on a lighter load. This is going to reduce my stress. This is going to make it easier for me to navigate.”

When I’m yoked with Christ, I move together with him. I move in the same direction and at the same speed. And I move in the right direction and at the right speed.

Today, with my new role, I do feel a lot of responsibility and load from the pressure. I’m now part of an organization / team that needs some tuning and changes to remedy some problems and processes that are not effectively dealing with the work at hand. I have some underlying culture and communications style’s that also requires shaping. Unfortunately I have been just reacting to issues of the past, in-efficient work habits and only slowly illustrating some changes by example. But unfortunately I’ve been also doing this on my own strength. As I start my second month at my new company today, it’s time for me to yoke up with Jesus, and start leading in a manner that will help bring about the changes that are needed. I pray this morning, “Jesus I am ready to come to, team up and learn from you and your example what I need to do to make a positive change for your people. Amen”

Eliminate Stress By Giving up Control

In review of Matthew 11:29-30 it says, “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”

Bottom Line:

Take up his yoke and learn from him. He is gentle and humble. In him you will find rest.

What this means to me:

I should learn to take Jesus yoke, put it on, and then learn from him. He is gentle and humble in spirit and I will find rest in him. The assistance Jesus gives when I yoke together with him makes it easier and lightens up my load.

The overload I experience in life is likely because I’m trying to contol way too much. I think, it all depends on me. “If it’s to be, it’s up to me. I’ve got to hold it all together. I’ve got to make it all work.”

What I’m reminded of is that, while I’m an operations manager at work, I’m not the operations or general manager of the universe. The more control I try to exercise over the universe, the more stressed out I’ll get.

Today’s passage reminds me that Jesus has a different plan for me, he says to: “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 11:29-30 NIV).

It sounds a bit contrary to take something else on, especially if I’m already carry too much.  

Part of what Jesus is referring to, relates to farming, something everyone at that time could understand. A “yoke” is a single piece of wood that brings two farm animals together, so the load is shared. A yoke is not a harness. You put a harness on one cow or one horse, and it has to pull the whole load. With a yoke, you team up two or more animals so the load is halved. It is lightened. The purpose is to make it easier on the animal, not harder.

What I’m learning is that when Jesus says to take his yoke, he’s saying, He never meant for me to carry all my problems on my own. He is telling me to let him help. To team up with and partner with him. He will help me carry the load.”

So, if I’m feeling stressed, it means I’m not fully yoked to Jesus Christ. Stress is a warning sign/indicator that tells me I’m trying to control things and carry too much on my own.

Every time I get disconnected from Jesus, the stress is going to go up in life. But if I get reattached and yoked up, he’s going to help me pull the load.  As a result the stress will go down.

Often when we feel stressed, we think we need a break or escape. This may help temporarily, however the stress is there when I get back.  Often I can end up taking my stress with me because it’s in my mind. So I can be just as stressed lying on a white sandy beach as I am right in the middle of problems at home.

I believe God is saying the answer to stress is to give up control. Every time I give up control, God grants me peace. Today, I will consider how I can share my burden (get yoked up) with him.

God Provides on the Way to the Miracle

In review of Philippians 4:19 it says, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus”

Bottom Line:

God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus

What this means to me:

It is God who will supply all my needs from his riches in glory because of what Christ Jesus has done.

Today's passage comes from the middle of Philippians chapter 4, where Paul is thanking the Philippians for their thoughtfulness and gifts for him. In this section Paul explains how thankful he is for their gifts. In addition, he tells them that he has learned to be content with whatever he has at the moment, whether it is plenty or nothing. He does it through the strength that Christ gives him. He concludes this section with, “this same God who takes care of him will supply all of our needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

The next time I find myself in a rut or feeling the pressure, there are some things I need to remember:

First - God is all I need. I don’t need the government or even a job. If God wants to, he can have ravens drop food on me as his way of providing. That’s how he provided for the Prophet Elijah when he was exhausted and burned-out in the desert (1 Kings 17:1-16). When God turns off one job opportunity, he can turn on another just as easily. I shouldn’t trust in my bank account. I should trust in God.

Second - Where God guides, God provides. After sending the ravens to feed Elijah, God told him to make a dangerous trip to Zarephath. There was a drought in Zarephath and very little food. Yet God provided for Elijah, not through someone who had stockpiled food but through a poor widow with a generous heart (who God blessed for her obedience). When God tells me to go somewhere, leave now! When God tells me to do something, do it right away. When God gives me direction, he will provide what I need to get there.

Third - I need to trust him one day at a time. I trust him each day, because some of my problems persist day after day. For instance, financial problems, are ones that I’ll have to deal with them one day at a time. And so I must trust God one day at a time to provide.

Today’s verse reminds me, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 NIV).

Fourth - God’s promises work when I’m obedient. God wants me to take a step, and then he’ll show me the next one. It may not seem logical, but I need to do what God says because God’s way is always best. In any faith situation, God wants me to take that first step of faith.

Part of the first step of faith is asking Jesus to take control of life. I can renew this by praying, “Dear God, thank you that you love me and want to keep me from depending on other things instead of you. Forgive me for when I’ve depended on my job and other people instead of you. Thank you that you haven’t forgotten me. Lord, the days ahead may be a little scary at times, but I understand now that the path to a miracle is through uncomfortable territory. I understand now that the source of a miracle will be unexpected, so I shouldn’t try to figure it out. I should just trust you. When you tell me what to do, and it doesn’t always make sense, I will still do what you want me to do. Help me to remember that you’re all I need and that where you guide, you’ll provide. I want to learn to trust you one day at a time. I want to go your way, not my way. I want to follow you, and I ask you to save me and come into my life. I claim your promise that if I trust you, you’ll meet my needs. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”