Journal Guide - Rest - Matthew 11:28-30
Rest
Matthew 11:28-30
Week 2/Day 2
Hello, everybody. My name is Daisy, and today I am inviting you to join me as we open our Bibles and spend some quality alone time with God together. Today we are going to be spending some time in Matthew 11, verses 28-30. So, please open your Bibles, and let’s spend some time in the scripture. We’ll read the verses and then talk about it and meditate on it before I send you off to do some work with this passage on your own. Then we will close in prayer.
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 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.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Let’s read that set of verses again and really take the time to soak in what Jesus is saying with this passage.
For me, this is one of my favorite verses because when I read it, I feel like this weight has truly been lifted off of my shoulders. Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.
Learn from me. What does that mean? It means to study the character of Jesus. To understand Jesus on such a level where we can implement his lifestyle into our lifestyle to become one with him. It is a gentle and a humble approach to life, and it’s what gives us that rest.
Not only is Jesus telling us to give him our burdens, but that in exchange for those burdens, he will give us rest. That this yoke that he’s talking about is total surrender. Jesus totally surrendered to God. And it is this love and this peace. It is the essence of God that we are resting in. And that is the freedom that comes with living our lives through Christ.
I will give you rest. That is such a powerful promise, no matter what season you’re in. And this year, I really struggled with some health issues. I don’t really talk about it, but it’s been really hard. And not just hard, you know, on my body, but hard on my mindset and has caused me to have to physically and mentally surrender.
And so, this verse has given me such a tremendous amount of strength on the days where I was so worried and so scared and so burnt out. I had no idea how I was going to keep going, and I didn’t have to, is what I realized. I didn’t have to know what tomorrow was going to be like because I was just in charge of resting. My only answer that I needed to pursue was the answer of rest in Jesus. And it’s been truly miraculous to experience the rest that comes with casting your burdens onto the Lord.
I’m almost thankful for the hardships because they gave me such an intimate relationship with God through that process of letting go. And even now, heading into the holiday season, you know, I can feel myself bracing for impact because days are feeling shorter, and there’s just so much to get done and to prepare for. You know, getting ready for family, and having to pay bills, but also putting aside money for gifts, and remembering to do things for people that don’t have resources that I have. It can feel really overwhelming.
And, you know, it’s a reminder that being burdened and being weary doesn’t always come from illness or grief, or immense amounts of stress. Sometimes it just comes from feeling rushed. From feeling like you’re being stretched too thin or from being overwhelmed with the pain of the world, especially in times like these.
So, it’s in these moments that we have to remember that we are so completely human. And that’s okay. It’s a very humbling experience to be human and realize that. But overall, it is an invitation that no matter how small your burdens might be or how big they might be, we are called to draw near to God and to rely on his strength in the midst of our human weakness.
So, maybe you’re feeling weary too. And if that’s the case, I’m so sorry. And I want you to know that no matter what you’re going through, big or small or somewhere in between, you do not have to go through it alone. Jesus is inviting you to come to him, and he will give you the rest that you so desperately need. And he doesn’t make false promises. God is not a liar. Jesus is not a liar. He would not say it if it were not true.
And even though he doesn’t promise to take away all of our troubles, he even says, “in this world, there will be trouble. But take heart…” because he’s overcome the world. So, he does promise rest for your soul. And that is the most important promise that he can deliver.
So, I want you to look at your own life now that we’ve meditated on this verse a little bit and we’ve talked about it. Either use the Alone With God journal or just take a piece of paper out and reflect on the passage. Under the Meditate section of your journal, write what God's Word is saying. What are the spiritual principles here?
If you don’t have our Alone With God journal and you would like one, you can order one at wordbymail.com. It is a custom journal, and it is designed to help you draw closer to God on a daily basis. It is an essential, amazing tool. Our team has worked really hard on it, and it’s all about helping you learn how to connect with God in a really beautiful way.
For this next step, I want you to Apply this passage to your life. When we are applying passages to our life from the Bible, we want to really focus on how do we draw from this verse in a really specific and personal way. What does this passage mean to us? Not in a way where we are going to twist God’s Word and make it fit our story, but just look at the scripture. Look at your life. What do you take away from the scripture? How do you put that scripture into perspective for what you’re going through? What is God trying to communicate to you through that scripture? So, take a moment. Reflect, and write down some notes. Write down some thoughts.
Now, I want you to Respond to God. So, we’ve just looked at this scripture. We’ve meditated on it. We have talked about what it means and then what it means to us personally and specifically for our situations, for our circumstances, and for our lives. Now, we want to look at what intentional action can we take to apply this truth to our lives. So, what is God asking from us? How is he asking us to respond to what he’s saying? How can we actively give God our burdens? And what are those burdens? And are we holding on to too much that really isn’t our job to hold on to? Reflect and write.
And finally, I want you to write out your or say a prayer. And this is the time to be aligning ourselves with God and this truth that is just shared with us. Under the Pray section, go ahead and write out your prayer to God. When you are done with this step, we will close in prayer together. But this prayer for you right now is to really be honest with God. To really be obedient and to do what he is saying – which is to cast your burdens onto him, to surrender. Take a moment and write your prayer to God.
Thank you for joining in this message today. I know that whenever I make time to intentionally get alone with God, and when I study his Word in this way, it always makes such a big difference in how I feel and how I navigate the world. So, I really hope that you feel lighter after doing this exercise, and I really hope these devotions continue to bless you and to nourish your relationship with God.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you. Thank you that it is safe to trust you. Thank you that you care for us and that you love us, and that you are the one who gives us rest. Real rest. Thank you. Thank you that your yoke is light. Help us to run to you when we are feeling overwhelmed. Please work in our hearts, and in our lives, and in our minds to strengthen us and to sustain us so that no matter what season we are in, we are rooted in peace. Help us to become more aware of you and your almighty power and less aware of our problems. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 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.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Let’s read that set of verses again and really take the time to soak in what Jesus is saying with this passage.
For me, this is one of my favorite verses because when I read it, I feel like this weight has truly been lifted off of my shoulders. Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.
Learn from me. What does that mean? It means to study the character of Jesus. To understand Jesus on such a level where we can implement his lifestyle into our lifestyle to become one with him. It is a gentle and a humble approach to life, and it’s what gives us that rest.
Not only is Jesus telling us to give him our burdens, but that in exchange for those burdens, he will give us rest. That this yoke that he’s talking about is total surrender. Jesus totally surrendered to God. And it is this love and this peace. It is the essence of God that we are resting in. And that is the freedom that comes with living our lives through Christ.
I will give you rest. That is such a powerful promise, no matter what season you’re in. And this year, I really struggled with some health issues. I don’t really talk about it, but it’s been really hard. And not just hard, you know, on my body, but hard on my mindset and has caused me to have to physically and mentally surrender.
And so, this verse has given me such a tremendous amount of strength on the days where I was so worried and so scared and so burnt out. I had no idea how I was going to keep going, and I didn’t have to, is what I realized. I didn’t have to know what tomorrow was going to be like because I was just in charge of resting. My only answer that I needed to pursue was the answer of rest in Jesus. And it’s been truly miraculous to experience the rest that comes with casting your burdens onto the Lord.
I’m almost thankful for the hardships because they gave me such an intimate relationship with God through that process of letting go. And even now, heading into the holiday season, you know, I can feel myself bracing for impact because days are feeling shorter, and there’s just so much to get done and to prepare for. You know, getting ready for family, and having to pay bills, but also putting aside money for gifts, and remembering to do things for people that don’t have resources that I have. It can feel really overwhelming.
And, you know, it’s a reminder that being burdened and being weary doesn’t always come from illness or grief, or immense amounts of stress. Sometimes it just comes from feeling rushed. From feeling like you’re being stretched too thin or from being overwhelmed with the pain of the world, especially in times like these.
So, it’s in these moments that we have to remember that we are so completely human. And that’s okay. It’s a very humbling experience to be human and realize that. But overall, it is an invitation that no matter how small your burdens might be or how big they might be, we are called to draw near to God and to rely on his strength in the midst of our human weakness.
So, maybe you’re feeling weary too. And if that’s the case, I’m so sorry. And I want you to know that no matter what you’re going through, big or small or somewhere in between, you do not have to go through it alone. Jesus is inviting you to come to him, and he will give you the rest that you so desperately need. And he doesn’t make false promises. God is not a liar. Jesus is not a liar. He would not say it if it were not true.
And even though he doesn’t promise to take away all of our troubles, he even says, “in this world, there will be trouble. But take heart…” because he’s overcome the world. So, he does promise rest for your soul. And that is the most important promise that he can deliver.
So, I want you to look at your own life now that we’ve meditated on this verse a little bit and we’ve talked about it. Either use the Alone With God journal or just take a piece of paper out and reflect on the passage. Under the Meditate section of your journal, write what God's Word is saying. What are the spiritual principles here?
If you don’t have our Alone With God journal and you would like one, you can order one at wordbymail.com. It is a custom journal, and it is designed to help you draw closer to God on a daily basis. It is an essential, amazing tool. Our team has worked really hard on it, and it’s all about helping you learn how to connect with God in a really beautiful way.
For this next step, I want you to Apply this passage to your life. When we are applying passages to our life from the Bible, we want to really focus on how do we draw from this verse in a really specific and personal way. What does this passage mean to us? Not in a way where we are going to twist God’s Word and make it fit our story, but just look at the scripture. Look at your life. What do you take away from the scripture? How do you put that scripture into perspective for what you’re going through? What is God trying to communicate to you through that scripture? So, take a moment. Reflect, and write down some notes. Write down some thoughts.
Now, I want you to Respond to God. So, we’ve just looked at this scripture. We’ve meditated on it. We have talked about what it means and then what it means to us personally and specifically for our situations, for our circumstances, and for our lives. Now, we want to look at what intentional action can we take to apply this truth to our lives. So, what is God asking from us? How is he asking us to respond to what he’s saying? How can we actively give God our burdens? And what are those burdens? And are we holding on to too much that really isn’t our job to hold on to? Reflect and write.
And finally, I want you to write out your or say a prayer. And this is the time to be aligning ourselves with God and this truth that is just shared with us. Under the Pray section, go ahead and write out your prayer to God. When you are done with this step, we will close in prayer together. But this prayer for you right now is to really be honest with God. To really be obedient and to do what he is saying – which is to cast your burdens onto him, to surrender. Take a moment and write your prayer to God.
Thank you for joining in this message today. I know that whenever I make time to intentionally get alone with God, and when I study his Word in this way, it always makes such a big difference in how I feel and how I navigate the world. So, I really hope that you feel lighter after doing this exercise, and I really hope these devotions continue to bless you and to nourish your relationship with God.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you. Thank you that it is safe to trust you. Thank you that you care for us and that you love us, and that you are the one who gives us rest. Real rest. Thank you. Thank you that your yoke is light. Help us to run to you when we are feeling overwhelmed. Please work in our hearts, and in our lives, and in our minds to strengthen us and to sustain us so that no matter what season we are in, we are rooted in peace. Help us to become more aware of you and your almighty power and less aware of our problems. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.