“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
- Matthew 11:28-30
When Lindsey and I bought our first house last summer after years of bouncing from one apartment complex to the next, one chore I was responsible for taking up was mowing the lawn, something I grew up doing every Saturday but hadn’t done regularly since going off to college. To my surprise, I found that I actually enjoyed mowing (which I never would have said in high school)—something about the satisfaction of a job well done was much more meaningful now that it was my yard instead of my parents’.
However, I was rusty, and that became apparent the first time I used the lawnmower my father-in-law had given me. After nearly 45 minutes of work, I was surprised when the mower suddenly sputtered and died. I checked the gas—still plenty to run on. I tried to crank it to life—no luck. Puzzled, I stared at the mower for a moment until I had my eureka moment. Grabbing the bag attachment, I pulled it off the mower and found the culprit: the bag was completely full of grass clippings, unable to hold anymore. The mower was so weighed down it just couldn’t operate anymore.
Especially right now, many of us know how that lawnmower feels. In the midst of a pandemic unlike anything we’ve seen before, trying to do your work and care for your family, doing your best not to drop any balls, you may feel like each day brings a new weight to carry. Like that lawnmower bag, you may be burdened to the point of shutting down.
If so, I encourage you to turn to the Lord who promises rest for the weary and refuge for the burdened. Instead of trying to handle everything alone, you can cast your anxieties and worries on a God who cares for you, coming to Him in prayer instead of retreating into your own plans. If you will cast pride aside and seek God’s will instead of your own, you will find, just as Jesus promised, that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
The truth is, we weren’t made to carry life’s burdens alone, and when we try to do so—especially in such unprecedented times—we risk becoming so weighed down that we can barely move. So just as I had to do that Saturday afternoon last summer, empty your bag. For only when you’ve turned over the weight can you start moving forward.
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