Read Matthew 11:28-30

Someone once told me that you never really know the word “tired” until you have a kid. The day Mattie came into the world, I woke up to Kelly telling me she was experiencing contractions at 3:00 AM. Mattie was born at 8:47 AM and the last person didn’t leave our hospital room until 8:30 PM. I specifically recall holding Mattie in the midst of the quiet and the tiredness hitting me like a brick wall. Now, I had stayed up stupid long hours in my teenage years playing video games with friends, but this was a different kind of tired. As of this writing, Mattie is 3 and still wakes up several times a night. He usually goes back down quick but that means Kelly and I waking up ourselves. Makes for some long nights.

Then there are the times where you are mentally and even spiritually exhausted. I recall the time recently when a close friend of mine was in rehab. During that month and a half, I almost couldn’t escape the thought of worry and the deepest desire for them to get better. My heart was heavy and I was in a mental and emotional funk for a month and a half. Just recently, Kelly and I lost a baby who was 5 weeks along. The emotional and spiritual pain that came was one that I had never felt before, and it came in waves for days at a time. I know that God is good and loves and hurts with us but my mind and heart were so tired that it seemed like I was fighting an uphill battle.

I’m sure that you have your own examples of being, as Matthew says, “weary and burdened”. The burden is so thick in your life that you just feel constantly under the pressure of life’s circumstances. How are you during these times? Do you talk to people? Do you try to fight through the pain or do you suppress it? Do you fight through it or do you allow it to hold you down?

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”

This is one of the greatest promises of all time! If we come to Jesus with all of our baggage, concerns, fears and emotions, we are promised rest. It is only through Jesus that we can experience true rest.

True deliverance.

As we near the end of 2020, I can’t image what it must be like for those who don’t know Jesus. What hope is there that anything will get better? When you are hurt so deeply by life, how do you heal apart from Jesus?

So, I challenge you; if you are weak, burdened, tired, or frustrated, go to Jesus. He is a good Father who wants to hear from His children. If something is bothering you, let Him know about it.

My first conversation with my dad after learning that we had miscarried consisted of him  saying, “I’m really sorry”. Knowing that my father was hurting with us meant the world to me. If an earthly father is capable of this kind of care, how much more is your heavenly Father capable of?

Jake Lawson