REST IN HARD TIMES
Matthew 11:28-30 28Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (NIV)
Today is Christmas day, the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. As we meditate on His birth
today, let’s take it one step further, let’s look at the HOPE that we have in hard times because of
Him. Jesus came to bring rest and relief to the weary but that often looks different than what we
think it should. Often Jesus doesn’t just take away our trial or hardship, instead, He wants to give
us rest in the midst of it. Jesus wants to give us HOPE in the midst of our trials and sufferings.
The HOPE that He wants to give us is the HOPE of the resurrection. This trial won’t last forever,
this isn’t heaven but rather earth - it will get better than this! In order to receive rest in hard times
we need to take on Jesus yoke and burden. The burdens that we carry are heavy and difficult but
according to Scripture His burdens are easy and light but it doesn’t mean that they aren’t BIG! This
Christmas season, let’s commit to going to Him with our trials and problems instead of holding them
ourselves. He says “come to me” and He will grant you the grace to carry the burdens that He is
calling you to carry. There are some burdens that God asks us to carry that are too big to carry –
He asked Jesus to carry the weight of the world on the cross. Whatever He asks you to carry; He
will empower you to do it!
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask Jesus to give you HOPE in the midst of a trial or burden that you are carrying. Ask Him for
a word, thought or picture about that situation or circumstance.
2. Ask the Lord to show you if there are any burdens that you are carrying that He hasn’t placed
on you. What are you trying to carry on your own strength because it’s not His burden?
3. Pray that you would learn to carry only His burdens and that you would have the selfassurance
to walk away from the things that other people are demanding of you carrying only
what He desires of you to carry.
