Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light. (Mt 11:28-30)
I cannot tell you how many times I heard this passage without receiving any consolation. I was living in darkness despite all of my attempts to live for God alone. Life was not going well. I was trying, but nothing good seemed to come of it. When I heard the words, "For my yoke is easy and my burden light" I would laugh bitterly. Those words did not ring true for me. My struggles lasted, not for a season, not for a few months or a few years, but for over a decade. I could not understand what God wanted of me.
When I think back to those days, I realize part of the problem was in my understanding of "living for God". In my mind, once you set yourself on a path, you could not deviate from that path.
I have learned, and I admit it has taken time, to recognize signs of the right path for me and the wrong one. The wrong one is when nothing works out, when pain and suffering never cease to come, and when darkness prevails. It's when the words, "For my yoke is easy and my burden light" is no longer true for me. Then I reflect, see if I am the problem, or is it something I am reaching for that is not for me.
I encourage you to take stock of your spiritual life. If you find the burden unduly heavy, then maybe you are not following the path God has intended for you. Perhaps for you, as for me, it is time to make changes. Perhaps the problem is not with God's plan, but with carrying a yoke not placed by God.
As followers of Jesus, we tend to expect challenges and setbacks, things that try our resolve and prove our loyalty. What we need to do is make sure those challenges and setbacks are healthy, not destructive.
After all, it was Jesus who said the yoke was meant to be easy. If you find, as I did, an unbearable yoke and an unconscionable burden, look around. Maybe you are carrying the wrong challenges. Maybe for you, as it was for me, a time to check the path and choose a different direction.
Thank you, Amy. Your honesty resonates: "I would laugh bitterly" upon hearing the yoke is "light." What a paradox it is that the same Master who said, "Take up your cross" also said, "My yoke is light." So the cross is light??
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is. But we don't know that until we've taken it up, until we've been willing to take it, even while laughing bitterly. Then in some unexpected moment, when our cross seems unbearable, we're given a remarkable gift: the cross is light. How did that happen? Then we see the Master wink, "My yoke is light." We wink back, this time not with a bitter laugh, but with a chuckle.
Thank you, Amy, for the reminder.
Thanks, Karina. You always add to any thought that is there.
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