As we have journeyed through March and our theme of “Weariness”, there seem to have been an increasing number of things going on which have added to the Weariness which was already present. The war in Ukraine is reported daily on all our news screens, the increasing cost of energy, the rise in inflation and the cost of living are generating a real and understandable sense of fear for many of us. All of these on the back of two years of COVID-19 understandably lead us to tiredness, weariness, exhaustion, anxiety, worry and other emotions, all of which have an impact on our wellbeing physically, spiritually and emotionally.
As I have reflected on this I have come back to a passage from the Bible which is familiar to me and maybe to you. It is from Matthew 11:28-30 when Jesus says:
He says this after he been speaking about how all things, all things in our lives, in the life of the world around us, have been committed to Jesus for his care and kingdom repurposing. When Jesus says ‘my yoke is easy and my burden is light’ he is offering a contrast to those first hearers. In Jesus’ day ‘yoke’ referred to the Old Testament law and here Jesus contrasts the heaviness and weariness of keeping the Old Testament law with following the way of Jesus where the burden is, in contrast, light.
As we experience the relentless weariness of COVID-19, Ukraine, rising costs, our health and much more, these words bring me great comfort. They remind me that God in Christ does hold all things, even if at times it doesn’t seem like that; and that whilst it is right to acknowledge how tough things are, I can turn to Jesus to share all that I have going on and know that in him I will, if only for a moment, find rest. The verses also remind me that without my faith, without Jesus, for me things would be much more difficult.
As you continue living in these weary times I invite you to spend some time with these verses of scripture, to see what they might say to you and to consider how you can bring all your burdens to Jesus and to receive rest from him.