Rest. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). A few years ago, I had everything I thought was important: a job, a relationship, finishing college, and I was the youth leader and pathfinder director of my church. I was also exhausted, burnt out, and obsessed with succeeding.
After a long day of lectures, I stopped at a red light and sighed with relief knowing I was almost home. I have tried to remember what happened next, what I did wrong, what I could have done differently, but none of that matters anymore. A drunk driver rear-ended me at 60 mph in my neighborhood. I spent months in therapy and neurology clinics. I could not focus. All my efforts to get myself back were futile. I sank deep into a pit of shame and hopelessness, what my psychiatrist later called major depressive disorder. My identity and self-worth were so rooted in succeeding that when I did not, I lost myself. But God has a way of turning every pain into purpose and every hurt into healing. At some point in my recovery, I gave up all my work, all my plans and focused on my recovery by resting for a year. As I forgot what I thought was important, I remembered this verse, and remembered the God I knew. I had professed God’s love, delighted in God’s plan for my life, but when it came to my everyday life and priorities, I refused to obey Him. Our world glorifies how hard we work and encourages it. The world that God has promised us is one of rest (Hebrews 4:11). Although what we do here is important, it will leave us exhausted if our priority is not the new world God promises.
If you are tired today, remember what God has promised, and through obedience and prayer, you can enter into His rest. This is the most important task on your to-do list. Rest in God’s love and remember His promises every day. Lord, please give me the courage to obey and rest in your promise today so that I can enter into your eternal rest to come.
“Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God believe also in me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also.” John 14: 1-6 NKJV
Leave a Response