Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. John 14:27
Come to me all you who are heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
Our next milepost on the journey of Christian maturity: Rest. Peace. Simply put, stress is a character trait of this world and its system. God gives peace, instead.
We’ve all been there. Too much on our plates and feeling overwhelmed. Or we face impossible problems, setbacks, disappointments, discouragements… Add to that, we’re exhausted. Jesus calls this “Weary and heavy-laden”.
How does the world respond to stress? Well, there’s always TV (books, surfing the web and other distractions). Then there’s endurance—putting our shoulder to the tasks and bulldozing through (that’s me). Some get into pumping ourselves up with positive self-talk. Others find something in the fridge. And don’t forget pity-parties and complaining.
But today’s verses tell us that Jesus gives us peace that’s nothing like what the world gives. He’s not into stress. Every time we feel weary and heavy-laden, Jesus says “Come to me… and I will give you rest”. That’s a promise for all of us who are weary and heavy laden.
For mature Christians, Jesus’ promise is no empty cliché. It describes their lives. Here’s why: Jesus promises rest and peace in our lives. Where does that come from? Rest comes from taking His yoke and learning from Him. So the yoke is a picture of learning from Jesus.
Learning what? What does Jesus teach us that will immerse us in rest? In the verse before Jesus’ invitation to the weary, He explains, “… no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (v.27).
Sin, circumstances, busy-ness…they all blind us to the knowledge of God the Father. But Jesus reveals the Father to us. Jesus was always at rest because He had a clear revelation of His Father. Jesus gives us rest by revealing the Father to us.
We are weary with too much to do, but Jesus shows us that the Father will give us the grace to do whatever He calls us to do (2 Cor 9:8). Mature Christians limit their activities to their call. We are unnerved by tough decisions, but Jesus shows us that the Father will give us all the wisdom we need for every decision we face (Jam 1:5). Mature Christians give every decision to God and count on Him to do it (1 Thes 5:24). We are exhausted by setbacks, but Jesus shows us the Father’s all-satisfying presence (Psa 63:5-6) and that He has had a wise and loving purpose for our lives (Jer 29:11).
Peace isn’t natural. Jesus takes us into peace by doing something supernatural: He “reveals the Father”. Just as we saw last time: one glimpse of God causes us to worship. In the same way, one glimpse of the Father forces our problems off center stage and puts our all-powerful God in His rightful place in our lives.
Mature Christians feel stress coming and ask Jesus to reveal the Father to them; to do His supernatural, Holy Spirit, heart-changing work in them—before the stress takes hold.
They pray over Bible verses showing who the Father is (e.g. 2 Cor 9:8, Jam 1:5, Phil 4:13. Phil4:19, Psa 50:15, and many others). And they keep praying over those verses as the pressures from outside build. They keep asking Jesus for His heart-changing work: until faith rises up inside of them and trust increases and that’s when rest comes upon them…whether their situation has changed or not.
It sounds so easy…but mature Christians walk there…Because if we will come to Jesus and have Him reveal the Father to us, we will always find the rest we need.
That’s His promise.