Are you hitting the pause button?

Are you hitting the pause button?

Matthew 11

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This verse has been rolling around in my mind all week. Sometimes it takes me a moment to stop and realize when God is speaking to me, but I'm getting better at pausing to listen when He is. Really, that is what Jesus is offering in the Scripture above. A refuge, to pause, hear and be restored. Which sometimes can be the most important and difficult next step you’ll make in a crisis or hard situation? Most of us, myself included, have been well trained by life to just plow through the hard stuff by working harder, and staying fully distracted from what we feel. When we find ourselves in a hard situation we deal with it, by not really dealing with it. Which works for a moment but always leads us back to the same place, worn out, angry, and an overall feeling of being disconnected from God.

Jesus offers something different. He offers a refuge and place to pause and gain His perspective over the situation. He might not necessarily take the problem away from you, but He will always do something much better. He will give you His power, perspective and authority over the problem, so that you can live from His abundance, no matter what life throws your way. Jesus never promised an easy life. He promised an abundant life in the midst of all the hard stuff. The abundance comes from receiving His yoke, instead of reacting, being dragged around by the world and what you don’t understand. Don’t get me wrong, hard work is important. We don't want to confuse resting in Jesus with being lazy. But, if you don’t learn to stop and process the condition of your soul with Jesus when you are feeling worn out, you will just work harder and harder until you hit the place of burn-out. All your hard work will come up short, and you’ll still feel worn out. When you are living from a place of rest and Jesus' abundance, your hard work will leave you feeling satisfied and grateful for what the Lord has done through you.

So, what if you are experiencing burn-out, what if you have hit the end of yourself, is it too late? Good news! It’s not! In fact, Jesus’ words in Matthew 11 are just the remedy of a worn down soul, and the beginning of being restored to His abundance. In fact, right now if you are feeling weary and burdened by life, I encourage you to stop what you are doing and simply enjoy Him and His rest. Repent for replacing activities with intimacy with Him, and receive His yoke, as He restores your soul. Allow Him to speak over you and your identity in Him. His perspective over every situation will break the power of what you don’t understand. Right now is the best time to receive His invitation.

Love,

Pastor John