“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace [Emphasis added] I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)

My wife, Karis, recently said, "I am learning to pray for strength not only to do what I need to do but also to be okay with all that I cannot do." Margins are not high in this season of little ones and family sicknesses, losses in our family and community, and other shifting sands of transition have taken us to a place where we simply cannot get everything done. So what to do? I often have a tendency to want to just keep going, desperately trying not to let anything drop so I endure late nights and early mornings. And while there are seasons that I can function this way, the current pace of this is not sustainable to me right now. We ended the year tired and in want of rest, yet God has brought us into other seasons of heightened care for others.

So Jesus' words in this passage are an encouragement, a prayer, and a seemingly allusive hope. I am encouraged by Jesus’ simple invitation to come to him. Find rest in him. That he will teach and guide as I learn from his example. I am drawn into the life of Jesus in these verses. I marvel at the way he still loved people so well when he was tired. Whether it is the woman at the well in John 4 or the many ways you see him looking at the cares of others on his way to cross, when his life was squeezed, love poured out. This encourages me that in my limited capacity he is also pouring out love for me as he shows me the unforced rhythms of grace.

This is also a prayer. I am acutely aware of how desperate I am for God to show up. I pray for healing for friends and family that are going through deep sorrows, I pray for provision for those who have exceeding needs that we cannot meet, I pray for grace upon grace for my children as I hear my tone come out harsh toward them at the end of a long day. God, have mercy and teach me … I need help!

And yes, this passage also speaks of a hope … to live freely and lightly. Can this really be? I feel the weight of so much of the brokenness that surrounds me, yet these words are such a deep longing in my heart. God, can this be true? Can one live freely and lightly while knowing the deep wounds of loved ones? In a season where we have experienced many losses I see glimpses of his light shining through. In a meeting with our Ambassadors team the other week one of our staff, Samson, was talking about some of the hardships that he has witnessed within our office community and then, in a turn of a word, he asked a question about God’s purpose and whether these hard things were preparing us for something we had not imagined before. In that moment I felt a flame of hope light inside me. My gaze shifted from the brokenness and onto my heavenly Father who knows me, loves me and is with me always. In that moment, I was free and light.