MY SOUL: TESTED YET RESTED
(5-minute read)
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus gave us an open invitation to come to Him for rest when we feel overwhelmed. But we often feel that nothing is ever so bad that we need to respond to Him just yet. Surely, He doesn’t need us to prove our commitment to Him when we are in a bind or a flux. He clearly knows how deeply we trust Him and how much we depend on Him though we hardly ever respond to His invite to rest in Him.
Perhaps this reflects our human relationships. We avoid coming to each other to share our vulnerabilities. We misapply terms like ‘codependency’ to avoid needing people, and to justify the lack of demonstrable care on our part. Due to the lack of practice with each other, we almost have no idea how to come to Jesus with feelings of being overwhelmed and helpless.
We struggle with doing life with the Lord and Saviour of our souls because we don't do life with anyone. We often have no rest because our wellbeing depends on outcomes and not our ability to come to Him for rest.
So how do we train ourselves to come to Jesus even when it feels unnatural and uncomfortable? Why is it important to find rest in the midst of feeling constantly disheartened, defeated and depleted?
COME TO ME…
When we come to God, we need to train our souls - our emotional, mental and spiritual will - to take the necessary steps towards Him instead of letting our wills move in all different directions.
We are not talking about positive thinking but biblical soul care. A lot of believers talk as though coming to God is about knowing what the Bible says but do very little of actually approaching Jesus and leaving our burdens at His feet. We text each other applicable Bible verses and hope the other person makes their way to God without any active involvement on our part. Mark 2:1-5 described a paralytic man was brought to Jesus by four friends who made sure that he got close enough to Jesus (in spite of the crowds) and not just arrive at the door. They carried the paralytic man so he could come to Jesus.
Our souls are tested when we go through trials that hit us on all sides. Naturally, we will find it hard to even have physical rest because as soon as we close our eyes, our minds begin to run in circles even though it does nothing to move us forward or make us feel better. There is real danger when our souls are not rested, because something in our lives will have to give.
King David, whom the prophet Samuel described as a man after God’s own heart, provided us with ample conversational scripts whenever we find ourselves at a loss for words when coming to Him (1 Samuel 13:14).
Psalm 42:5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 62:5-6Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
TAKE MY YOKE…
Matthew 11:29-30 “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.”
Believers are never meant to fly solo – transparent to God alone and have no meaningful connections to people. In fact, we are instructed to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2). We should not assume that our membership in any Christian circles will automatically translate into lifelong friendships. We may do many things for others but avoid doing life with anyone. Not surprisingly, many ‘friendships’ end when the fellowship ends. In contrast, when Jesus offers His yoke, it is His commitment to do life with us – side by side.
Take a look at the picture of a traditional ox yoke. The yoke Jesus offers is not a one-size-fits-all contraption but is customized to fit us individually.
Yoked to Jesus, He sees what we see, feels what we feel and faces what we face. We are in a position with Jesus where it makes no sense to hide our emotions, inadequacies and shortcomings. That itself should lift the weight off when we stop pretending that we are fine going it alone.
Yoked to Jesus, He gently leads us when we are unsure of our footing. “He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3).
Yoked to Jesus, we are coupled to the Word made flesh (John 1:14), allowing Him to train us to better respond to life’s challenges.
Taking on Jesus’ yoke will liberate us and not burden us – if we will learn from Him.
LEARN FROM ME…
Verse 29 says “learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Jesus offers a leadership that is neither oppressive nor restrictive, but one that gives us space to pause, and engage in better quality of reflective thinking.
Humans are built with instincts that psychologists refer to as defense mechanisms to reduce our experience of uncomfortable situations and feelings. These are stopgaps and quick-fixes that fall into three broad categories known as flee, fight or freeze strategies. Many of these unconscious responses stick for life. Unchecked, they turn into unhealthy behaviours that impede our spiritual, relational and character growth and development.
Trials and testing do not show up with appointments or after giving us a heads-up. They have the power to wear us out till we run on empty, and find ourselves taking great effort to do the most ordinary things. Learning from Jesus will require us to set aside all default survival strategies so that we can better discern His ever so gentle direction and instructions to revise erroneous assumptions, and make the necessary course corrections.
Jesus has given us a simple and uncomplicated invitation. Come to Him, and the outcome is rest. Don’t try to find an escape route, or you will miss out on His invite to come when you need it most.
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 15 February 2025.
