"Rest"

I get tired, are you tired,

So tired you cannot go,

And when you get exhausted,

It’s when you come to know,

That when you get that weary,

And you have no more to give,

You need to get creative,

‘Bout how you plan to live.

Sometimes I ask the young folks,

How they are today,

And without much exception,

This is what they say,

I’m just so tired they tell me,

And I have to wonder why,

‘Cause back when I was their age,

There was no end to my try.

Three jobs when I had to,

And sometimes even four,

With a full load of study,

And I came back for more.

And, yes, the motivation,

Was there and what it took,

It just was necessary,

Or seemed so in my book.

We all have our work to do,

And life can get real mean,

So what if it’s so draining,

And our strength is getting lean.

Jesus made a promise,

He said He’d give us rest,

Lift the heavy burden,

Put Him to the test.

Give yourself some soul relief,

And cast on Him your care,

You may not understand it,

But He will meet you there.

Rest for all your worried mind,

And rest within your soul,

It’s best not to delay it,

Let Jesus take control.

Jesus said: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28, NIV)

This is a very big claim and only three things about it matter. One, be weary and burdened. Two, come to Jesus. Three, He will give you rest. Simple? Absolutely! But no less profound for its simplicity. Our minds immediately jump to “what’s the catch” or “what else is needed.” But these questions and others like them are beside the point. Either we come and find out it’s true or we allow our rationalizations to steal the promise. As soon as we complicate it the water gets muddy and we let unbelief in. But some of us were too tired to rationalize things anymore. The exhaustion drove us to Him, and He is Lord.

Lord, give us rest, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mark Maggiori, markmaggiori.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you