Weary and Heavy-Laden

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

This morning I awoke to the realization of four major things I was supposed to have done earlier this week but hadn’t. The weariness just pounded down over me before I even got out of bed. I was tired. Tired of getting up at 5:15 every morning, being diligent to exercise, trying to balance eating well and sticking to our grocery budget, keeping up with household chores, staying on top of reminding kids to do the things that should be second nature to them. Tired of resisting temptation. Tired of heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and the cats. Tired of all of the constant battles that come with being a people pleaser – being reminded that God is the only One I need to please while still struggling with the guilt, frustration, and pain of knowing that I have to trust God with any way people are displeased or hurt because of my obedience to Him. Or because of my failure to do so. Tired of a schedule. Tired of putting aside the things I’d like to do in favor of what I’m supposed to do. Tired of being diligent even when there are no visible results.

You get the picture. Probably a whole lot more than you wanted.

When I am tired, Matthew 11:28 naturally pops into my mind. But, to be honest, I’m still light-years away from learning to receive the rest my Lord offers. It seems so much easier to wallow in my weariness. Herein lies my challenge: to take a step toward improvement today!  Every time one of these things I’m tired of comes to mind today, I am challenged to take it to the Lord. Not to think about it, mull over it, and be further discouraged about it. No, instead I must pray about it. Surrender it to Him. I’m not to the point yet where I can just lay the whole bundle at His feet and move on. I have to do it thought by thought, moment by moment.

Today I need to go to Him. In that and that alone, I will find rest.