Lonely. Depressed. Sick. Addicted. Stressed. Find Rest in Jesus

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

Jesus says:

“Come. Come all of you who are sick and tired and stressed out. Those of you weighed down by life, those of you weighed down by your sins. Hey! You over there! Yeah, you who are spinning your wheels but find yourself only deeper in a rut. Hey Mr.! Hey Miss! I can see you’re exhausted because of your rebellious child and are paralyzed by debt. I know that you lost your job and you’re worried sick that you won’t find another one before your bills and collectors swallow you up.

Lonely singles, come to me.

Those of you anxious to fit in at school, who feel disliked and misunderstood, come.

College student–you can’t sleep because you’re about to graduate and you’re not dating anyone. You wonder about marriage–you don’t want to live alone the rest of your life. You worry about finding a job in a bad economy along with the others who have been laid off. Come to me.

Addicts, addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex, pornography, shopping, or approval, come to me. Come to me, all of you who feel trapped by your sins, who feel like life is a noose around your neck.

If you’re depressed, even so bad that you can’t get out of bed, come to me.

Those of you sick, fearing the diagnosis, come to me.

You may ask me, ‘Jesus, why should we come to you and not go to a self-help book, money, careers, our drugs of choice, or someone else’s arms?’ And I tell you because I am gentle, not violent. I won’t kick you when you’re down or suck the life out of you. You get what I promise you–peace and rest. Everything else is just a mirage, an illusion in the desert. I am the oasis in the desert. I am real. I am Faithful. I am True. My peaceful ways are but a light burden, easy compared to the ones you are now carrying.”

If you wonder what it means to come to Jesus, please reader, cry out to him. Find a Christian you trust. He or she can help you come. Ask for prayer and seek him out. He will not disappoint you, although his ways of bringing about peace in your soul may be different than you expected.

If you have any questions, I’d be happy to help you, too. I leave you with the Message version of Matthew 11:28-30:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me–watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

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