Finding rest for your soul

Matthew 11:29 (NIV)

Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

Paul states “always be humble and gentle”.  Where have you heard this before?  Jesus used these two words to describe Himself (Matthew 11:29).  Of all the adjectives Jesus could have used to describe Himself, these are the only two He chose.  If you aspire to keep growing to be Christlike in your life, you must be humble and gentle.  Being humble and gentle allows you to be patient with others, even those who irritate you the most.  Remember, if you pray for the Spirit to fill you, then it is the Spirit’s personality, not your own, who is leading you.  Through the Spirit of Christ, you will be able to be patient with others and tolerate their faults.

A yoke is a double piece of wooden frame that joins two farm animals together to lighten the load and makes a load easier on both animals.  According to Oswald Chambers, Jesus is asking you to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke so that you and He can pull together.  As a result, He says in verse 30 “My yoke is easy and My burden is light”.  Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that?

Jesus described Himself as gentle and humble in heart.  By taking one end of the yoke and living your life with Him, you too will be gentle and humble in heart.  Gentleness and humility will produce rest, peace, light, and joy in your life.  There still will be burdens in your life, but those burdens will be buffeted by the oneness you will have with Jesus bearing the burdens with you.  The famous story and imagery of the “footsteps in the sand” is based on this verse. 

Charles Swindoll, in his book Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back, contained this poem from Orin Crain that easily describes the world of stress we all live in these days, yet what the Lord can do when we take the yoke with Him and learn from Him:

Slow me down, Lord.  Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.

Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tension of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory.

Teach me the art of taking minute vacations—of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to smile at a child, to read from a good book.

Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values, that I may grow toward my greater destiny.

Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing its speed.

Let me look upward to the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.

Where…..and how….in your life can you be more gentle and humble in Christ and find rest for you soul?