Come and Rest

"Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 NLT

Yesterday, when I was at church, my friend pulled me aside and said she just needed to unload. She is one of those women that you look at and admire so much for her strength and insight. She has gone through many trials--cancer, bad doctors, surgeries to fix what the doctors messed up on, many treatments of chemo--always with a gracious spirit and a sweet smile.

Yesterday was different. Yes, her resistance was down because she had been in pain and she was having to start this week with another form of chemo treatment that would be putting blisters on the soles of her feet, the palms of her hands and her tongue. But that wasn't it. Yes, her 95 year old mother was nearing the end of her life--nearly blind & deaf, dementia and now her digestive system was closing down--living next door--not really ready to make the decisions that would soon have to be made. But that wasn't it.

Yesterday, she was weary. She was heavily burdened with the cares of life and the responsibilities of. Have you been there? Are you there now?

Are you-- as they say--ready to pull down the shades and turn out the lights? You are emotionally, physically, spiritually burdened and weary? It's OK to hold up your hand and say,"Yes!" Go ahead. If that is where you are at, go ahead and shout a big, "YES! Yes I am!"

So many of us feel that we can't be true to our feelings. That if we admit that we are spiritually weary or feel burdened beyond our capacity, that we are admitting failure in our spiritual walk or a weakness in our journey with our God. But it doesn't mean any of those things.

God knows you so well. He knows you better than you even know yourself. He allows us to go through these times of weariness and heavy burdens to fine tune us. To make us better than we already are through Him. To prepare us for the path in life that He has made for us. To help us to realize that we need Him so much more than life itself.

As I read this passage today, I thought of my friend. I thought that this verse was written especially for her in this very moment she is in. Was it written for you too? Claim it! Go to your Father and lay all of the weariness, cares, burdens and tears down and crawl upon His lap. Curl up like a baby and feel Him wrap His strong and gentle arms around you--rocking you and singing sweet songs in your ear that are for you only.

Your Heavenly Father is just waiting for you to make the first move--will you? Can you? I know you can.