Written By: Katie Nowak
Rest. A concept that many of us have been finding an abundance of lately. But it’s also a concept that many of us are struggling to grab ahold of. This week at Encounter Talia spoke to us about truly experiencing God, and not just filling our heads up with knowledge about him. Further, she homed in on how experiencing God provides rest for our souls.
Matthew 11:28-30 tells us that Jesus personally invites us to him and that if we accept that invitation, we will find rest for our souls. We will experience his gently and lowly heart as well as his easy yoke and light burden.
To give you some context, back in bible times when the scriptures were written, the Pharisees burdened the people with hundreds and hundreds of laws that were to be kept. That’s a lot of things to remember and without a doubt a big burden to carry, a very heavy yoke. Here Jesus invites them personally to a life of rest if they were to accept His invitation. And now, even though we are living thousands of years in the future, his words still apply to us today.
We live in a very different time than the Israelites and Jesus lived in. I tend to have a very busy schedule. That is…any other time than these past several weeks. In this time of a forced slowing down for many of us, I want to ask you a question: Have you taken our six feet of social distancing and applied it to your faith? In this time of distancing has your faith and your time with God been distanced as well? If you answered yes, I want to tell you something. I want to tell you that Jesus is still there. Even if you feel six or 600 feet away from Christ right now, He is right there. He is reaching for you and the offer of his easy yoke is being presented right before you. All you have to do is accept.
A couple of months ago I was really struggling with reaching. I was emotionally drained which extended over into spiritually drained. I literally felt like I couldn’t reach for Jesus, I was so tired and worn out. So, I prayed that. I told my Savior, our Savior, that I could not reach any further and asked for Him to reach me where I was. And let me tell you, He did. I felt Him reaching for me despite feeling like I had nothing left to give.
Do you feel like that now? Like you have nothing left? So worn out or far away? “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:30 NIV). His rest and reach are there for you. When Jesus died on the cross, he carried the burdens that we were meant to carry. Because of his righteousness that was exchanged for our sins at the cross, because of his perfect obedience, because of his love for you, he’s reaching in the six feet of distance. He’s there for you well equipped with his easy yoke. Will you accept it?