Gospel Reflections #558: A Place to Rest

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I will give you rest."

We seriously ask God for help when we go beyond our limits or have a sudden accident.

Often it is only at the end, when we have tried everything in our power, that we ask for God's help.

And when we ask God for help, we often expect all the burdens we carry to be lifted from us, a sense of release from our burdens, an emotional uplift.

God does not do that; He lets us rest.

Rest, I believe, means to stop, to put aside our thoughts, and to give them over to God.

But we do not rest. We are brainwashed in this world to think that resting is wrong.

God does not tell us to rest when we are too tired to move, but to come to Him when we feel burdened and exhausted.

God is not a God who does everything for us, but a God who is with us, who gives us wisdom and strength, and who bears our burdens with us.

He is a God who carries our burdens with him, and when we are about to fall, he carries us on his back.

All of our burdens will never disappear, but God lets us experience how peaceful and hopeful it is to have someone to carry our burdens with us.

Our God knows through His own experience what our weaknesses are, what our shortcomings are, and where the power of our temptations lies.

So let us run to Him in peace and let Him rest first. Let us be free from our own thoughts and assumptions.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.