Feeling Weary? How Jesus’ Invitation to Rest Heals Your Soul
Do you remember the Back to the Future Movies? Classic, right? Did you find yourself yelling at Marty McFly when he got baited by Biff?
With history on the line, all Biff had to do was call Marty a chicken. THAT’S IT! “What are ya, chicken?!” and Marty would lose all self-control and nearly wreck everything.
Good thing nothing like that ever happens to us, huh? Silly Marty!
Or can it?
Maybe it’s not quite as obvious to us, but there are times we do incredibly foolish things because something or someone baits us into acting in ways that are way out of character.
Well, way out of character with the truest version of ourselves.
Peeling Back the Layers
Why did Marty feel the need to prove he was courageous? I mean, the guy was traveling THROUGH TIME! Of course, he wasn’t chicken.
There was something in him that wasn’t settled or secure, leaving him vulnerable to being baited and bullied. It takes three movies for Marty to finally grow into mature confidence.
Hopefully, we can grow out of being baited without needing the Mandalorian.
Why we do a thing is often more consequential than the thing we do. We can do the right thing for the wrong reasons. And we can make honest, good-hearted, well-intentioned mistakes. Many people act “sinfully” because they’ve never healed from their trauma and operate in survival mode.
Some people, maybe you’re one of them, read their Bible daily because they’re afraid that if they don’t, God will be mad and they’ll have an awful day.
Reading the Bible: Good.
Assuming you need to keep God happy by your religion: Bad.
Where do our Motivations Come From?
At the risk of overgeneralizing a complex issue, it seems to me that our actions are propelled by one of two primary foundations: Sonship or Orphanhood.
Another way the Bible describes this is “sowing to the flesh or sowing to the Spirit.”
Some psychologists poke around at this by talking about a true vs false self. Or an authentic vs. a shadow self.
Do you believe, in an experiential, unshakable way – that you are a delighted in child of God? Do you know that when God looks at you, His heart erupts saying, “You are my beloved, and with you I am so, so happy!!”
Or do you believe that God tolerates you – at best?
Do you have any space in your heart or theology to believe that God is actually proud of you? That He is proud to call you His? And I don’t mean that one day far away when you are perfectly glorified and sanctified – I mean right now as you read this?
Many people strive, sacrifice, and suffer believing that God’s affection must be earned. They live like orphans.
Do you?
If so, you may do a lot of really good, moral, religious, impressive things. It’s like all someone needs to do is call you “chicken,” and you’ll sacrifice whatever’s needed to prove your worth.
When we operate like orphans, our hearts will never feel at rest. Even while, maybe especially while, we’re excelling morally or religiously. It’s such a cruel, deceptive trick of the enemy of your soul.
You can live like an orphan precisely because you’re trying to please God. We can act in and reinforce our unbelief while praying!
How?
Because we don’t believe that God loves being good to us. So we try to earn it. Keep it. Take it from others. Shame others for receiving favor.
Thankfully, if you’re willing to receive it, Jesus shows us the truth.
How Your Weary Soul Can Find Rest
Check out what Jesus says.
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
God is always all of who He is. If at any point He ever ceased to be anything less than fully all of Himself, He would not be God in that moment.
And if God is not God for a moment, then He is not God at all.
How does Jesus describe Himself?
Dayne Ortland says it so well:
“If we are asked to say only one thing about who Jesus is, we would be honoring Jesus’s own teaching if our answer is, gentle and lowly”
Let’s take this further. 1 John 4:16 says that God is love. Well, how does the Bible describe love?
The Bible further describes God by describing the fruit of the Spirit.
In the next section in Matthew, the author quotes a Messianic prophecy about Jesus from Isaiah:
This is who God is: gentle, humble, joyful, patient, - joyfully patient!! – peaceful, kind, hopeful, and more. It is from that disposition of His heart that He tenderly, persistently invites you to come to Him.
Weary and burdened. Or perhaps like children. This ought to clarify how we view some of the more challenging texts, such as those that tell us to lose our lives, pick up our cross, walk the narrow path, and so forth.
Can Gentle Humility Pave the Narrow Path to Abundant Life?
Dying to ourselves doesn’t sound fun, gentle, or abundant. How can all of this be true at the same time? How can Jesus be gentle and tell us we have to die to ourselves? How can He promise rest and tell us to take up our cross?
How can both be true simultaneously?
Could it be that the cross we must take up is dying to a false self that wants to:
earn our place
prove our superiority
be centralized
show how righteous we are
Could it be that we are supposed to die from living like orphans?
If so, wouldn’t that be amazing news? What would change in your life tomorrow if you believed – today – that God Almighty is PROUD to be your Dad?
It’s like Shadrack, Meshack, and Abendigo going into the fire and saying – God can save us, we don’t have to be afraid. Go ahead and call us “chicken!”
Or like Solomon being willing to ascend the throne, receive the kingdom, and grow in abundance that blessed the world.
You can face every fear, receive every good thing, and live like there is a God in heaven who loves you and is arranging all of the details of history to maximize your ability to enjoy Him.
Look at the lengths Jesus has gone to give us a light yoke and easy burden:
He was yoked, nailed to a cross – so we could be led by His love.
He carried the burden of the curse of the sin of the world - so we could enjoy carrying the good news of forgiveness and healing.
In His humility, He was destroyed by arrogance - so that His tender embrace could sweetly humble us.
No one was gentle with Him as He was brutalized and murdered - so God could always only be gentle with our every weakness and failure.
If this is what Jesus went through because He loves loving you and doesn’t want anything to ever get in the way of loving you as ferociously as He desires, then why would He demand you perform for Him? Why would He try to motivate you with shame, fear, or threats – or – flattery and false promises?
If that’s how He treats us, and how His Spirit inside us is loving the world around us, then why would He want us to go out into the world to pick fights or belittle people?
There is no way God leads us to flatter or manipulate people into behaving in a certain way. Seriously. What could we possibly offer anyone that’s better than Jesus? What could we ever say to someone that’s better than what Jesus says about them?
What Kind of Yoke are You Experiencing?
If we’re not experiencing lightness, easiness, and rest, then, in some way, we aren’t yoked to Jesus. We aren’t abiding in His love.
And yes – I mean this in every way all the time.
And no – I do not mean this is contingent on circumstances.
You know this to be true.
Haven’t there been times in your life where it seemed like everything was falling apart – and yet – God was so near to you that His love transcended the pain?
And haven’t you had times in your life where things were good – and yet – you just couldn’t rest?
What’s the difference? I believe it is this simple: are we living like delighted in children or like orphans?
Jesus invites us to come to Him just as we are. He won’t pressure, flatter, force, or threaten us. He invites us with love.
And not just once. But over and over again. He knows we’re weak. We wander. He sees, He’s experienced how hard it is to keep your heart soft in this world. He knows. He cares. He invites us to rest.
No. Even better. He invites us to enter HIS rest. The rest that He won for us on the cross when He canceled the curse, satisfied God’s wrath, and disarmed the devil.
You’re Invited to Rest in Jesus
This is why one of Restoration Church's core values is Invitation. We believe God is always speaking. His love is always calling. He relentlessly invites us to enjoy being adopted into the family of God so He can enjoy loving us as He desires.
Don’t be baited by being called chicken. Don’t listen to another lie that says you’ll never be accepted. Jesus was rejected so that God would always accept you.
You can trust God’s character. You’re invited into His love.
