The Medicine Cabinet: Go to Bed — Friday
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.” (NIV)
I’m 30,000 feet in the air right now, on a plane en route to Japan. Me, my husband, and a couple of Southland staff members are going on a trip to visit a church planting organization that Southland supports called Mustard Seed. My husband and I have connections with several of the church planters there, including my very best friend and her husband, who live in Tokyo.
The church planters at Mustard Seed take the call to follow Jesus seriously. Most of them uprooted their lives and families in the U.S. to move halfway around the world to a new country, to learn a new language, and to reach a nation that is less than 1% Christian. Church planting in a place like Japan is hard, hard work. With millions upon millions of people who have never even heard the name of Jesus and don’t know the good news of the Gospel, ministry can become tiring. There are moments of great joy, but the need can feel overwhelming. Integrating into culture is an uphill battle. I can imagine that some days, it seems like the work is never done.
Jesus says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. How is this true? Doesn’t that seem paradoxical, to say that a burden can be light?
A yoke is used to tether two animals together as they plow a field, and it was common in the day to pair a stronger animal with a weaker one to help shoulder the load and even strengthen the weaker animal. I think that the people listening to Jesus might have understood this a little better than we do—life is full of burdens, but they aren’t nearly as heavy when we are yoked to Jesus. He’s the stronger one. He lightens our load.
A life of rest isn’t a life of inactivity. It’s a life of balance. It doesn’t mean we won’t sometimes struggle or experience tiredness, but it does mean that when we are going through life with Jesus, our load will always be lighter. He already bore the weight of the heaviest burden we have—the weight of our sin. He took care of that on the cross. If He can bear that burden for us, you can bet that He bears every other burden with us.
I think that’s what makes the mission of Mustard Seed possible. There’s no way that a few people could successfully carry out a church planting movement in a place like Japan on their own. But yoked to Jesus? Definitely possible. He gives us balance by providing the strength that we need to do hard things, and the rest that we need to recharge.
Friday’s Reflection
What hard thing do you need to give to Jesus to help you carry? What feels like the heaviest burden in your life right now, and how can you share that with Him?
