Matthew 11:28-30, New International Version

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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."

It feels as if it's the norm in our world to go day to day with an extra heavy load on our backs. The more we carry, the more “productive" or "strong" we think we are. You know that heavy load of sadness for all the tragic events that have occurred lately, the heavy load of confusion at decisions being made and that heavy load of anxiety and stress for everything else we face each day.

Life is messy. The world is broken. Our burdens start to stack up pretty high.

They feel heavy as we trudge on and try to gain ground in this “norm” of our lives. Thankfully, there is something, or rather Someone, we can turn to in order to ease those loads we are carrying around.

His name is Jesus and He doesn’t just want to make your load lighter/easier for you to carry, but He wants to carry them completely for you. All we have to do is lay them down before Him.

The Lord reminded me He would graciously carry the weight of my burdens. You see, none of us, no matter what circumstances we are faced with, are meant to hold the weight of our burdens alone. God wants us to simply lay them down before Him, and He will gladly pick them up for us.

I don't know about you, but I am feeling very tired. The kind of tiredness that seeps down to your bones and leaves you feeling hollow. The kind of weariness that’s not physical, but emotional.

The only real remedy I have found for this fatigue is entering into the presence of God. Whether it’s reading His Word, praying or spending time in worship to Him, it helps turn over any burden we are facing to the One who loves us unconditionally, and knows everything we feel without us saying a single word. God can heal, transform and strengthen us in our times of need. He will give us the ultimate rest we are searching for – rest for our weary and burdened souls.

Don’t wait to come to God when you are carrying so many burdens, you are being crushed under their weight. As you start to feel even the slightest pressure and heaviness upon you, turn to Him. Even if you can’t name exactly what it is that’s bogging you down, lay it at your Father’s feet and allow Him to do the heavy lifting. He not only will, but desires to do this for us.

It’s challenging for sure to go day-by-day and not feel the weight of the world. There is so much heaviness around us because we live in a very broken world. The depth of evil and darkness are sometimes too much to bear. We have to remember though, that God is with us. He is with us each and every day, each and every step of every challenge and obstacle. He will carry the burdens we’re faced with and will give us true and lasting rest. We must simply let go and lay them down before Him!

Let this be our prayer:

“Merciful Father, we sit at your feet today bearing the full weight of the burdens we are carrying. The load is heavy. Too heavy for us to manage on our own. Lord, we know that the only way we are going to continue to climb this mountain is if we hand this load off to You. Father, we release all of our cares, all of our anxieties, all of our fears, over to You. Father, I can’t, but You can. We pray for these things in your Son’s precious name. Amen.”