A few weeks ago, I went to visit with a church member, someone who had been on a long journey with cancer and was approaching his time to rejoin the Lord. When I got to the door of his home, this gentleman’s wife told me that throughout her husband’s battle with this disease, he had taken an interesting attitude toward what he can and cannot control. As to those places where he knows he has no control, he simply puts them on a mental shelf and lets God handle that which he cannot.
Most of us try to carry more than we are able to handle. (For some of us, that is in both a physical and a metaphorical sense.) We feel as though we can control the world around us when life is difficult. We believe that we can bring happiness to those who are suffering through a time of loss and grief. The beautiful thing we often forget, though, is that while we seek to be in control over so many aspects of our lives, we do not need to worry. We fail to realize that our only true peace comes in the act of surrender to God.
I’m often reminded of these words that Jesus spoke. The only true burden we need to carry is the yoke of Christ. Our Lord and our Savior has already borne the greatest burden imaginable through His death and resurrection, which has bought us salvation. Whenever I struggle to remember these words, especially when life is hectic and stressful, I need the reminder that through Christ Jesus we can find rest for our souls, believing that He has already freed us from the wages of sin.