Are You Feeling Weary? (Four Invitations From Jesus)

By: Dr. Christy Bee

Photocred: Delmaine Donson via iStock Photo

I am currently writing this blog post from my mother's living room couch while drinking a piping hot cup of green tea. It is a crisp, Thanksgiving day morning and while for many, today will be a day full of joy, laughter and making new memories with loved ones, I am also aware that today and this entire holiday season, will also be full of grief and loneliness, for others.

Holiday seasons can be difficult for many reasons, one of them being that they are a reminder to some of what and who they've lost like parents, siblings, friends, job opportunities, homes and good financial standing. For others, holiday seasons are difficult because they tend to demand an energy and presence that the individual just may not have to expend. If you resonate and are feeling like any of these descriptions that I've provided, I want you to know that not only do I see you and I feel your pain, but Jesus does too and He wants to give you rest and peace.

Transparently, throughout this month of November, I've been navigating strong waves of exhaustion mentally, physically and spiritually which has made it a difficult month for me. As a middle school Science teacher, I am consistently expending energy pouring into the minds and hearts of my students and it is exhausting work. And despite my upholding a consistent spiritual, self care and rest rhythm, because I've also been confronted with unexpected hardships, losses and disappointments this month, I've grown weary in heart and mind. As a result, this Thanksgiving day seems more full of grief and exhaustion for me than normal.

I share this with you for two reasons: (1) to model authentic vulnerability as a Christian leader and (2) to provide a healthy example of what it looks like to accept the reality of your present day while simultaneously holding onto hope in Jesus. Both can exist at the same time and it is Jesus' will that we experience peace in the middle of the hardships, losses and disappointments that we face. So how do we access His will for us?

This morning during my devotion, Holy Spirit laid a verse upon my heart that I feel led to share with you all. It is a gift for those like me, who have been feeling weary, run down, exhausted, overstimulated and confused:

"Come unto 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 ESV).

"Come unto me..."

"But Jesus, I'm feeling exhausted."

"Come unto me..."

"But Jesus, it still hurts that they are no longer here."

"Come unto me..."

"But Jesus, life has not panned out how I've intended for it to; I am so disappointed."

"Come unto me..."

"But Jesus, I am unsure of what to do next."

"Come unto me..."

You see, no matter where we are in life and no matter why we are feeling weary, Jesus' response will always be for us to come a little closer to Him, so that we can experience true rest for our souls. In this passage, the word rest is the verb anapauo in Greek which means to cause one to cease from movement or labor in order that they recover and collect their strength, or to give someone the gift of refreshment. It also means to keep calm and quiet in patient expectation. This is what Jesus wills to give those who come unto Him.

For those like me, who have been working hard and feel weary, today Jesus gives us rest or the permission to stop working so that we can recover our strength. For me this practically looks like unplugging from social media and the demands that come with it, in order to make more room for the peace and voice of God in my life. It also looks like me taking the rest of the 2023 year to focus on prayer and ministering to the presence of God.

What do you sense it looks like for you to receive Jesus' rest in this season? Take a moment to pray and ask Him to reveal it to you.

If you are weary from waiting on the Lord to come through with answers to your prayers, the rest He extends to you is rest that allows you to wait calmly with patient expectation that He will respond. Personally, I have a long list of prayer requests that I am waiting for the Lord to answer for both myself and those around me. Rest from the weariness of waiting looks like me having renewed hope in Jesus, His goodness and His faithfulness. It looks like me reminding myself of past seasons where He has come through, expressing gratitude for them and holding onto hope that He will come through again. It also looks like me taking my mind off worrying about what I am believing God for and choosing to praise Him in advance for the breakthrough.

No matter the situation you are currently in and no matter the cause for your feeling weary, Jesus' response is for you to come near so that He can give you sweet, sweet, rest.

So how exactly does this happen?

The Four Invitations of Jesus

1. Come close to Him

In this passage of scripture, Jesus gives us the formula for true rest. It starts with Him inviting those who are weary to come closer to Him. There is always a temptation to keep Jesus at a distance when we are weary, discouraged, confused and disappointed. But today I want to encourage you to draw closer to Jesus instead of away from Him if you are feeling weary.

Here I must ask you, what does it look like for you to come close to Jesus in this season?

Do you currently have a daily, weekly, monthly rhythm of spending time in Jesus' presence? Do you practice solitude like Jesus did, to commune with the Father? If your answer is "no" to any of these questions, then I can assure you that that needs to change. And even if you answered "yes" to one or more of them, I am encouraging you to take time to ask God what your spiritual rhythm for this season of life should look like.

I mentioned earlier that I am taking time away from social media for the rest of this year so that I can focus on prayer and ministering to the presence of God. This looks like me having a consecrated time daily where I can seek God in prayer. And it also looks like me leading others in times of prayer as well. (If this is something that you are interested in, you can register to join me for bi-weekly virtual prayer meetings underneath the "Prayer" tab of my website.)

Maybe God is asking you to switch up your morning routine to incorporate time where you simply sit in His presence and commune with Him. Or maybe God is asking you to dig a little deeper into His Word.

Whatever God is laying on your heart to do, to draw closer to Jesus, I pray that your response is obedience. There are good things that await you in His presence and all He is looking for is your "yes."

2. Lay your burdens down

After calling us near, Jesus then invites us to lay our burdens down and instead take up His yoke which He says is easy. This is a call to forsake all other yokes for that of Christ. In Greek, the word yoke is zygos which describes the yokes that were used in ancient times. A yoke was a wooden beam that was placed on two animals which evenly distributed the weight of heavy objects that they needed to pull. Cattles would often resist the yoke which then would choke them. When we resist the direction of the yoke of Christ, we are choked by the cares and worries of this life and become weary. That isn't what Jesus wants for us.

Jesus is inviting us into rest.

Jesus is inviting us into deeper trust and communion with Him.

Jesus is inviting us to take part of a holy exchange where we lay down our burdens and take up His light load instead, with Him. Jesus' yoke is easy because we don't have to bear the weight of it on our own like those in the world have to with their yokes. Through His grace, we are able to follow His ways and experience an easy load and the rest that comes from it.

But how exactly does one lay down their burdens?

In this moment, I am reminded of the lyrics to the hymn "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" which says:

"...Oh what peace we often forfeit,

Oh what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry,

Everything to God in prayer..."

Through prayer, we are able to take off the heavy burdens of our souls and entrust them into the capable arms of Jesus. Today I want to encourage you that whatever burden you may be carrying and whatever yoke may be weighing you down, Jesus is calling you to lay it down before Him in prayer and trust Him with it.

3. Learn from Him

The third invitation of Jesus in this Scripture is for us to learn from Him to experience true rest. When we learn from Jesus--how He grieves, how He walks with the Father, how He waits, how He trusts and how He loves and serves others--we are able to experience true rest. This is because Jesus' way is the way of love that leads to true peace and rest. And this rest that He leads us to gives us the permission to cease from working in our own strength and experience the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.

Consider what the Psalmist David says in Psalm 23:1-3

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name sake."

When we learn from Jesus, He guides us in a way that leads to righteousness, abundance, rest, provision, restoration, eternal life and peace.

I believe God is calling those of us who feel weary into new peace. This is the peace that only Jesus can give, the peace He speaks of in John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

This peace of Jesus says in the face of all hardships: "it is well with my soul."

This peace of Jesus is not afraid of what may come tomorrow.

This peace of Jesus causes our soul to rest even though life may be "life-ing."

For the weary ones, Jesus is inviting you closer because He wants you to have true peace.

4. Take on His light burden

The final invitation of Jesus in this scripture is for us to take on His burden which is light. The word burden in Greek is phortion which is used in Scripture to mean a load or the obligations or commands Christ lays upon those who follow Him. Here Jesus is saying that the demands of following Him are easy to be kept, or more pleasant than anything else the world has to offer.

Consider some of the commands of Jesus to:

1. Love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37)

2. Love our neighbors like ourselves (Mark 12:31)

3. Forgive others (Luke 6:37)

4. Bless those who curse us (Luke 6:28)

5. Always pray (Luke 18:1)

6. Believe in Him and the Father (John 14:1)

7. Know and listen to His voice (John 10: 4-5, 27)

In our own strength, none of these commands are easy. But that is the beauty of Jesus' commands. They really are invitations for us to be differently, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Today Jesus is inviting those of us who have been weary to receive fresh help from Holy Spirit. We do not have to do life in our own strength and quite frankly, we can't.

So today. I leave you with this blessing:

May the God who has called you His own and saved you from darkness by the precious blood of Jesus, keep and carry you through this season of life. And may your ears hear His voice as He invites you closer to Him and His presence that you may experience true peace and rest. May you receive help from Holy Spirit that refreshes your mind, body and soul and makes the demands of this season, easy. And may your days be filled with new strength, new hope and new peace as you draw nearer to the Savior and take on His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light. In Jesus' name, Amen.