“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–29).
These verses tell us a truth that we often run from when we look elsewhere for rest. I have tried to find rest elsewhere and have ignored Christ. What does it look like to find rest in Jesus? Shouldn’t Christians always be at peace? The reality is that life as a Christian isn’t perfect yet; we struggle with our sinful nature and the ploys of the devil until death. Sin causes us to look elsewhere. Yet Christ says, “Come to me, I will give you rest.”
I worked for a boss who I didn’t always get along with. Most of the time we were professional and respectful, but sometimes we would completely disagree on how the job needed to get done. In one instance, my boss asked me to do some unsafe work on live electrical equipment when it was easy to shut the power off. It would have inconvenienced the employer because it would have meant shutting down the power to the whole building. I decided to get the safety department involved, and this created a battle and rift between my boss and me. Even after making suggestions to help the situation, like coming in after hours and getting the proper safety gear, there was still great tension between us. We were never going to see eye-to-eye.
Every day for two months I woke up with the thought, “This might be my last day at this job.” I knew taking a stand for my safety could get me fired, which caused me to worry and second-guess my decision. My family counted on me to make a living, and this job was doing that. But if the worst happened, I might not be able to work at all.
There are a few things that gave me peace and the ability to accept losing my job. Peace only came because God has proved faithful, His Word accomplishes what it says, and prayer lets me talk to God. When I feared not being able to provide, God said, I take care even of the birds; aren’t you more important? When I struggled to think of my boss in the best light, reading Scripture and praying before a meeting with him would bring me back from anger and selfishness to remember that my boss is a person whom God has created and loves. Even though my boss is in charge of firing, a right posture is one of humility even while voicing concerns. This is not natural; I wanted to rebel and tell off that boss who I disagreed with.
Christ wants you to know it is a wonderful thing to bring Him even the smallest burden you have. Stop going elsewhere trying to find a rest, a rest that only He provides.
Ben Nordvik [FLS second year] is a member of Grace Free Lutheran, Bagley, Minn.
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