“Come to Me, all you 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 NKJV

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”

--Psalm 55:22 NIV

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”                             

--1 Peter 5:7 NLT

You ever feel exhausted?  You know, that kind of tired where everywhere hurts and you feel mentally, physically, and spiritually drained?  Life is going a mile a minute and there’s nothing you wouldn’t give to make it slow down just a little.

In the past, reading scriptures like Matthew 11:28-30 made me think of new Christians.  I figured that those verses were placed there to win people to Christ.  As if once I was a Christian, the verse no longer applied to me which meant I had to hold on to my burdens and give up on any hope of rest.  Ridiculous, right?  It’s not rare for us—even those of us who feel like we’ve been in a relationship with Christ for eons—to feel tired.  We get caught up in our long to-do lists, our ministries, our families, our careers, etc, and forget that we need to take a breather every now and again.  Being a Christian doesn’t guarantee us smooth sailing in life.  However, a relationship with Almighty God means that we can cast our cares on Him and let Him handle the craziness and drama of life for us. 

I heard it said once that, when God created the world, He didn’t rest for Himself, but for us.  He was giving us an example on how we should take time out.  Rest has spiritual as well as physical advantages.  Forcing ourselves to be still pushes us toward dependence on God (which I’ll get into another time).  God, being God, didn’t need a break from speaking the world into existence.  But He does need us to chill sometimes.

Rest in Him.  Do the best you can to juggle, but leave room for God to take care of you.  He doesn’t want you to be so worn out that you are no good to yourself or those around you.  Learn the art of balance.  It will serve you well and glorify God at the same time.

Shari Grant is a Registered Nurse in South Florida, where she was raised in a (very!) Jamaican home. Some of the loves of her life are words (both reading and writing them) and missions work. She enjoys spending time with friends and family while living for a good laugh - one that makes her belly ache and her eyes water. Her bottom line goal in life is to make the Lord smile and maybe even serve Him up a chuckle from time to time, too.