The Rest of Your Story
From Livestream
by Pastor Nave on October 01, 2017
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28–30, KJV).
Everyone knows to some extent what it’s like to endure stress. We’re no different from those living during the time of Jesus. When Jesus spoke, it was in response to seeing people were anxious, distracted, troubled, burdened, and stressed. Even though this was a few thousand years ago, there is still a state of unrest today. Satan is still working in the same manner regardless of the time, social, or political structure. He’s pouring out stress in some form or fashion that have the same detrimental effects on the child of God.
Weight, burdens, and fear are all enemies of faith. But, Jesus shared a message that would change people forever. He told us to come to Him and He would give us rest. In the midst of the weight and pressure of life, Jesus has promised rest.
When His rest shows up in our lives (His perfect love) it will cast out all enemies of faith (I John 4:18). Fear, at its root, is demonic and out of the heart of hell. But, there’s a power that comes in Jesus’ rest that will overcome all the power of darkness.
Jesus wants to give us a rest that doesn’t just give us relief, but refreshes and recharges us. God doesn’t just give us rest on the outside, but rest in our soul. His rest will transcend anything we can do to our natural bodies.
God not only wants to give us His rest, but have us learn from Him and about the secret to His rest.
Laughing is an important part of rest. The medical world teaches us laughing induces physical changes in the body that help increase our air intake, endorphins (feel-good chemicals), relieves our stress response, gives us a good relaxing feeling, and so much more. However, long before science identified the positive effects of laughter, God told us in His word that a merry heart will do us good (Proverbs 17:22). When we enter into God’s rest, He will take care of our body. So, let’s start looking at the joy God has put in our life and learn how to laugh.
When we consider God’s Word, we know we can’t disregard any of it—it’s His Word and we need to accept all of it. In His truth, lies the importance of rest. God even demonstrated the need for rest. He created the world and all things in 6 days and rested on the 7th (Exodus 23:12); He built rest into every part of His creation. We need to stop and pause and not fill all of our time. God even gave us an automatic reminder for when we need to rest—night time! So, remember to pause and rest!
We’re told to cast all of our cares on Him. God will put us into situations where we’ll have to trust Him to work and accomplish the task. All He needs us to do is realize the burdens in our lives are not for us to carry. He just wants us to be a vessel He can work through. We cannot get overwhelmed and flustered—He doesn’t expect us to do anything. He expects us to place it in His hands and allow Him to do it.
The yoke was the wooden collar beasts of burden would wear around their necks. The 2 animals would work together to pull a load. But, in comparison to the yokes we wear, Jesus wants us to focus on His yoke. When our yoke is compared to His yoke, there is no question as to which one is better. His yoke is easy and light. The word easy in the Greek means useful, profitable, good, and agreeable. There is a way to yoke up with Jesus; we must come to Him!
Coming to Jesus is not a suggestion—it’s a command. There’s a rest for God’s people, but we must enter into it (Hebrews 4:8–9). To enter into His rest, we must be obedient to His Word and repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus, and receive the rest—the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Once we receive that precious gift, the rest for our souls, we’ll have all the rest we ever need—in Him.
