Do you ever get tired and weary because the load you’re carrying is just so heavy? How do you overcome an overburdened life?
There are some things in life you were never meant to carry alone!
I was in Cuba when I took this picture of a man and his team of oxen. We were looking at a church building that had been severely damaged after a major hurricane had hit the country. When I saw this pair of oxen coming by, yoked together and pulling a cart, I was reminded that there are some things in life we were never meant to carry alone.
The Problem of an Overburdened Life
Life can get real heavy, real quick, when you feel like you’re carrying the weight of the entire world on your shoulders. It can feel like you’re carrying a backpack overloaded with things you think you really need for your journey here on earth. It’s heavy, you know it. But you’re thinking, if I don’t carry this, who will?
The truth of the matter, however, is that you were never designed to carry the weight of the entire world on your shoulders.
Jesus Himself said . . .
† “My Father has entrusted everything to Me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
Matthew 11:27 NRSV
The Secret to Overcoming an Overburdened Life!
There is a secret to overcoming an overburdened life. And it’s found in drawing closer to the One who can truly give you rest for your soul.
Carrying the weight of the world is the Lord’s job, not our job. Our heavenly Father is the One who has entrusted everything to His Son, Jesus Christ.
When we choose to live our lives out of alignment with this truth, over time, we can become tired and weary, overly discouraged, overwhelmed and overburdened with things we were never meant to carry in our own strength and power. It’s an endless pursuit for an elusive resolution for the heaviness and despair we seem to always be carrying, but can’t seem to find.
A Divine Invitation
When we can’t find a solution for the burdens weighing heavy on our backs, Jesus extends an invitation to all who would hear His voice. . .
† “Come to Me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
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.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NRSV
Why did Jesus say His yoke is easy and His burden is light?
Jesus knew His listeners would be familiar with how a yoke functions between two oxen, enabling them to work together as a team to plow a field for a new season of planting.
With this yoke establishing a connection between them, the stronger ox would lead the weaker ox in a team effort to till the soil, one row at a time, one task at a time, towards the completion of their shared work.
In this illustration that Jesus uses here, human beings would be depicted as the weaker ox.
Which brings up a number of questions like, Who am I yoking my life with? What am I yoking my life to? Am I yoking my life to my calendar, my agenda or my past? Or perhaps my future, my money or my timeline?
As I am working on my “To Do List,” am I yoking myself to pride, greed, anger, lust or selfishness? Am I yoking myself with the wrong people?
A list like this can go on and on. But ultimately, the decisions we make regarding what we yoke our lives to, will eventually play out on our well-being.
Consider who or what you yoke your life to!
The yoke of things that lead us away from putting Christ first in our lives, may seem deceptively easy and light at first, but over time it will exact a heavy toll. Leading us into a life of hardship, weariness and despair, eventually that road ends tragically in death, far and away from the One who gives life.
Jesus Himself said . . .
† “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6 NRSV
Jesus also asked His disciples . . .
† “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”
Matthew 6:27 NLT
Then Jesus instructs them . . .
† “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.”
Matthew 6:31-33 NLT
Let me encourage you today:
God wants you to be able to rest in the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He is in complete control of every area of your life. Take His yoke upon you. Let Him teach you, lead you and be your strength. Let Jesus be the life-giving One you come to first, for the answers you are seeking from the Father.
When you incorporate this habit into your daily rhythm, Jesus promises you will find rest for your soul!
Let me PRAY for you!
O LORD our God, Abba Father, who sent Jesus His Son to be for us the way, the truth, and the life. Help us to rest in the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and in complete control of every area of our lives. Grant unto us this day, the grace and humility to take His yoke upon us so that may learn how to put Him first in our lives, how to find His strength in our weakness, and how to follow His leading wherever He may take us.
Help us to experience the very rest Jesus speaks about for our souls. I pray, specifically, for those who are listening to this prayer, that they would feel the heaviness they may be carrying right now, become a little lighter each and every day as they would grow deeper in their faith and trust in You. In the mighty name and Spirit of Christ, we pray. Amen!
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