Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Sometimes I find myself torn between what I think the Lord is saying versus what I am feeling. The Holy Spirit has dropped both God’s Grace and Word into my mind recently. Yet, I felt saddened with the news of a suicide young professional athlete last week. Coupled with a call for comfort for a beloved member at my church, I feel led to write about relief this week.

Today’s scripture, Matthew 11:28 (NLT) says…Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Consider…
Today’s verse is a familiar one. In it we see the prescription for relief from life’s wearying and burdensome stress is Jesus’ rest. Let’s look a little closer at the formula.

• The first element for mental, emotional and spiritual rest is hearing Jesus speak.

The beginning of today’s verse, “Then Jesus said”, is a transition from Jesus thanking the Heavenly Father for hiding His Divinity Identity. It strategically follows Jesus saying in Matthew 11:27 (NLT)… “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

The Holy Spirit told me to hone in on Jesus’ last statement…
no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

The reason that’s key is because when Jesus speaks, it’s often revealing something about our Heavenly Father. In this case, Jesus is saying that He is the one that makes God the Father known to us.

Let me draw a bright line of distinction, many people know about God, but only people in relationship with Jesus know God the Father!

John 14:6-7 (NLT) underscores this truth. It says…
[6] Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. [7] If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

Going back to verse 27, the Holy Spirit showed me an unspoken reason why God the Father is key to eternal rest. Look at what Jesus said first…
My Father has entrusted everything to me

That means, in today’s verse gift of rest that Jesus is offering is what our Heavenly Father entrusted to Him.

That makes me hear the hymn lyrics…

We are the Heavenly Father’s children
And we all know that He loves us, one and all
There be a time that you find the answer
Another voice and call

If you’re willing, He will teach us
His voice to obey, don’t make no matters where
‘Cause He know, yes, my God do know
Just how much we can bear

Though your load get heavy
You’re never there, alone to bear it all
Just ask for strength and you keep on toiling
Though your tears drop fall

We have the joy of this assurance
His voice to obey, don’t make no matters where
Because He know, yes, He know
Just how much we can bear

So when we read “then Jesus said”, we know that He’s speaking on behalf of our Heavenly Father too, which simply means God is speaking to me and you.

To underscore that truth, the Holy Spirit reminded me that Psalms 34:18 (NLT) says…
[18] The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

• This leads us to the second element for mental, emotional and spiritual rest, which is responding to God’s invitation to come.

I don’t know that we always appreciate the privilege of being invited into God’s presence. As I wrote that, I heard the hymn lyrics…

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer

O what peace we often forfeit
O what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer

Here’s the point, God invites, but an invitation is meaningless if the invited guests don’t come.

Unfortunately, in our times of mental, emotional and spiritual turmoil, we will go/turn to all kinds of people, places and things for relief, despite the fallibility of those resources.

In today’s scripture, Jesus is saying come directly to the Source of true relief, which God!

The Holy Spirit just reminded that the prophet of Isaiah said of Jesus in Isaiah9:6 (NLT)…For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

God is saying everything we need for relief was packaged and given in Jesus Christ!

• The third element for mental, emotional and spiritual rest is recognizing your weary and worn.

I have often heard the example of the life guard who will let a struggling drowning victim completely give up before saving them. The reason that’s the approach is because it’s extra, and probably futile, work to try to save a fighting victim. It makes sense that it’s harder to help someone still operating in, and relying on their own strength.

That just made me remember one of my favorite verses, that underscores this fact. Romans 5:6 (NLT) states…When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

Once we recognize we’re helpless, God will be our Helper. Could it be a major reason we struggle is because of us doing everything we can rather than looking for help immediately from the One who can do everything.

Psalms 46:1 (NLT) declares…God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

And Psalms 121:2 (NLT) emphasizes…
[2] My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!

The Holy Spirit is telling us to stop toiling to strategize how help ourselves, and instead stop and recognize our need for help from the only One who can help.

Please don’t misunderstand, God may direct you to skilled professionals that He’s equipped to assist in helping you. I am merely saying, come to God first before you go to the doctor or other resource. The order matters because He will lead you to His appointed person for our specific need.

I won’t go into it in this post, but the Bible is replete with God sending people to others for His help, for example God sent a blind Paul to an appointed Ananias to have the both the physical and spiritual scales removed from his eyes.

It’s important that we understand God is interested in our wholeness and complete healing, which includes mental, emotional, physical and most importantly spiritual.

Therefore, in your burdened weariness make sure you come to God first for relief.

• Lastly, the most important element of the rest relief formula is that rest comes from God.

The Holy Spirit is showing me that physians can provide temporary and even prolonged relief, but only God can provide true rest.

As I think about rest being given, I realize what Jesus is offering is defined as a noun. Oxford Languages defines rest as an instance or period of relaxing or ceasing to engage in strenuous or stressful activity.

Yet the Holy Spirit reminded that we serve a God of action, so Oxford Languages verb definition of rest is be placed or supported so as to stay in a specified position.

After highlighting those definitions the Holy Spirit took me to Hebrews 4:9-11 (NLT) to emphasize…
[9] So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. [10] For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. [11] So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.

Today, and everyday, Jesus is saying that when life is ‘lifing’…

• Hear Him say
• Stop toiling and recognize you need His help
• Respond to His invitation into His presence
• Receive His rest

The Holy Spirit also told me to instruct you that this prescription should be taken as often as you need it, and refills of His rest are unlimited.

Today’s song is…
Rest

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)