Tired?

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  Matthew 11:28-30

A common complaint from mothers is that of "I'm tired!" (That will be a topic for another blog post). And you know what? Motherhood is tiring! There are little feet to chase, diapers to change, dishes to wash, hearts to disciple, and so much more.  But often that tiredness turns into a never-ending round of discouragement and exhaustion and I don't see anywhere in the Bible that lists that as God's will for mothers.

Our Pastor has encouraged us to read through the Gospels and Acts purposely learning how Christ did things as we are studying about discipleship. It's been very challenging to read and reread the words of Christ and see His focus while He was on earth.  But also very life-changing! I read the verses listed above last week and stopped there for a while.

Labor and are heavy laden? Does that not describe the work of a mother? Often we feel overwhelmed by the amount of work that is to be done and keeps being undone! I believe these verses definitely apply to people in many different walks of life but since I'm a mom, we're going to go with it!

What's the first command? "Come unto me." We must go to Jesus! We need to acknowledge our need for Him. Acknowledge that we can't accomplish our calling on our own.  Draw close to Jesus. Nothing will change your life more than reading your Bible and praying. I know, you hear it all the time. Maybe you think you don't have time. Make time to read your Bible and pray. It will transform your life and those areas you are so busy worrying about/working on. Forget the rest and focus on meeting Jesus every day.

"I will give you rest." Rest comes from Jesus. And physical rest accomplishes little without emotional/mental rest. Guilt can keep you from sleeping well. Bitterness can drain your happiness and energy.  See Psalm 3:5 and 4:8. The Bible even says that "he giveth his beloved sleep." Psalm 127:2  God can even make the rest that we get sufficient for our needs. He knows if we are up all night with babies. He knows if we are exhausted because we're pregnant. He knows every detail of every situation.

This next part was the most important part to me. "Take my yoke upon you." We are to take God's yoke. Webster's 1828 dictionary describes "yoke" as a "mark of servitude; service." Motherhood is definitely a place of service! But it needs to be God's service. Are we doing what God wants us to or putting unnecessary burdens upon ourselves? Are we working to please God or impress others?  There is a badge of busyness that we use to impress others that must frustrate God when we complain to Him that we're tired. What is the great accomplishment in being busy? Does the work count? There is no crown for "busy."

Stop and think of what God wants you to do. Search His Word for His priorities for your life.  Are there things you are doing that you don't need to be? Are you making unnecessary demands on yourself? We purposely keep a light schedule here for Micah and myself. Justin's work may get crazy at times but rarely are we super busy out of the house. I can't keep up with my work at the house and training Micah and getting enough rest if we're out running around all the time. Be willing to get rid of things that are keeping you from fulfilling God's purpose.

"Learn of me." We are to learn Jesus. That's why we read the Bible and pray. To learn Jesus. How He thinks. How He acts. What instructions He left us. Attend church. Listen to sermons. Read good books. Get advice from wise, godly people.

Jesus said "I am meek and lowly in heart." Meek- unchanged. Same from day to day. Lowly in heart- humble, free from pride. Those are some of the qualities we are supposed to be learning. How could it tranform our lives to learn meekness? And learn to think less of ourselves? We might that we fit into our servant role better. We might find that we are better able to assist our husbands and maintain grace with our children. There is a huge challenge in these verses! (Also see 1 Pet. 3:4 for what God really thinks of meekness in ladies!)

"Rest for our souls." How often do we long for a vacation? But don't we often come back from vacation more tired than when we left. We can get the soul restoration we need from God. From daily meeting God. That will be yet another topic for another blog post!

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  God's promise that even applies to mothers! What we need is to follow the instructions that He gives in these verses.