Rest Unto Our Souls

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30). Sometimes when I read the word rest here, it seems like if we come unto the Lord, then He's going to let us kick back and relax and stop working. But immediately after He says He will give us rest, He invites us to take up His yoke. So when He says rest, He means a rest from our fears and anxieties, a rest from anger and envy and resentment and bitterness, a rest from contention and chaos and confusion. In short, a rest unto our souls. We can't really escape hard work in this life but if we come unto the Savior and take His yoke upon us, then by necessity we have to let go of the heavy burdens we've been lugging around and if we have the humility and the courage to do so, then we will find that laboring in the Lord's way, with the Lord by our side helping us to bear the weight, is far easier and lighter than trying to push our own cart alone. The Lord will ask us to work in ways we're not used to, and to prioritize others above ourselves, but we will find that the clarity and peace and joy of working side by side with the Lord is much easier than even our laziest and most selfish moments of trying to bear life's burdens alone.