The Burden

Matthew 11 At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children, yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no on knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

To whom much is given, much is required.

For the last five days I have been struggling within myself over a career move. Unable to sleep or focus because I cannot seem to reach a decision that I can be content with. That I can live with. So this morning I open my Bible needing to hear from the Lord on this issue and, just like always, I find Him so much more than I had hoped for.

He is childlike in matters of faith. Always getting right to the heart of the issue. Jesus, in his earthy walk, could bypass all of our baggage and get right to the center of our problems. Right to the source of our weakness. While I have been anxious and fearful about how to survive on less money, or what people will think if I take a year off work to write or how it will affect my career if I am not working and on and on... He cuts right to the heart of the matter. My problem is not work. It is not money. It matters not at all what others think of it. My anxiety comes from not fixing my eyes on Him. The answer is so simplistic that I have overlooked it entirely.

Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

When was the last time I took a leap of faith?

When I was a little girl my mother took me to Stevenson for swimming lessons. There was a great park there with swimming pool and I had lessons every day for a couple of weeks. It was awesome. We learned to swim and float and on the last day our parents got to come and see all we had learned and be there when we received our certificate. It was a beautiful day and I was so excited except for the challenge that had to be completed, the last challenge before graduating. The diving board. One by one the kids climbed the ladder and jumped out into the water where the parents were waiting to receive them. I remember climbing that ladder and looking down into the abyss, my mother treading water and smiling up at me. Expecting me to jump. And I just stood there unable to move. If you will jump, my mother said, we will go get an ice cream!! Unt uhm. No way. If you will jump, she said, we will stop and get a toy!! Hunt uh. Nope. Finally, and I'm sure she was getting exhausted, she said, If you will jump to me we will stop and get diapers for the baby doll!! And off I went, screaming all the way. She had made me an offer I couldn't refuse. She had cheated by playing to my one weakness. I loved to change that doll's diapers and she knew it. So I got my certificate, I learned to swim and I got diapers for my baby. Life was good.

Today I am a lot older and little jaded and the way looks darker and more unsure but His words have played to my weakness. What I really want is rest for my soul and, like always, I find Him a gentle Shepherd, lowly in heart and worth trusting for I have found no fault in Him or shadow of turning.