Yoked To Christ
By Janelle Hill
Mat 11:2-30 Come to Me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
The thought of rest is very appealing. In the middle of the year, in the depth of winter, perhaps you dream of lying on a warm beach, enjoying a well earned rest. Or perhaps you yearn for a break from the difficulties that beset you – relational, financial, physical, or emotional. True rest sounds like bliss!
When the trials of life come, our woes are often compounded by our fears and anxieties. What will happen if I don’t pay these bills? How will I manage on my own? What will happen if I don’t get well? We may try to think positively (and even succeed for a while), take ‘me time’, seek professional help, or even run away from our difficulties, but eventually we feel ‘heavy laden’ and weighed down by both our difficulties and the emotions that beset us. If we continue to press on alone, we will end up scarred and damaged. If the problem goes away, we know that the future is uncertain, and more difficulties may lie just around the corner.
So how do we find this rest that Jesus spoke about? Anyone who has been a Christian for some time knows that following the Lord does not remove all trials, grief’s, and difficulties from life. Jesus Himself was described as ‘a Man of sorrow and acquainted with grief’. Is 53:3. However there is an escape from the heavy load we may bear in our lives. The secret, if we look at the verse, is to be yoked to Jesus and His people.
When we are yoked to Him, we begin our journey to rest, because we lay down all of our ideas of what we hoped our lives would be. Instead of fighting against our circumstances, we look to God who knows the way our life will be, and we accept His love for us and His way for us. When we accept this, we find that not only are we linked (or yoked) to Him, but He is now linked to us!! We are not alone in our dire circumstance. Our sufferings become His sufferings, and His sufferings become ours. Now, instead of being just random, bitter events, our difficulties and sufferings take on new dignity and hope. Out of our sufferings, we find faith, relationship and trust in the person Jesus Christ. We have met with Him, walked with Him and been comforted and strengthened by Him in the harsh reality of our crisis.
In practical terms, being yoked to Jesus means putting our trust in Him for the situation we are facing, and relating to others as we walk things through. Then His real comfort and strength comes to us – it may be that verses in the bible ‘jump out’ at us and provide us with comfort or wisdom, or perhaps Christian friends call at the right time, and pray with us, weep with us, or give words of wisdom and consolation. It may be that a word preached from the pulpit on a Sunday may give us the direction or comfort we need. In Psalm 42 it says that ‘the Lord will command His lovingkindness towards us in the day, and songs in the night.’ If we put our trust in Him, the Lord promises to remain with us, and we will never be alone.
If you are facing times of trial and difficulty at present, the following verses in the bible may encourage, settle and strengthen you.
Phil 4:6; Rom 8:35; Ps 42:2 Cor 4:7-9; 1 Pet 5:10; Ps 23
