Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 (AMP)
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.30 For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
As women, many of us take on far too many tasks – believing that we ‘have to’.
Some of us have families – careers – or ‘all of the above’. We live in a culture where we seem to think we have to be ‘Wonder Woman’ in order to thrive in this life. Only at the end of the day we are exhausted, angry, or depressed.
Yet, over and over Jesus told us, “come – sit with Me – let Me handle it”.
Luke 10:38-42 (NLT)
38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” 41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:40-42 (AMP)
40 But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving; and she came up to Him and said, Lord, is it nothing to You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me [to lend a hand and do her part along with me]! 41 But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; 42 There is need of only one or but a few things. Mary has chosen the good portion [that which is to her advantage], which shall not be taken away from her.
So what is that ‘one thing’ that Mary was doing that Jesus is talking about?
She was sitting at Jesus feet and listening to what He was teaching.
Here is what happens when we don’t take time to sit with Jesus:
- Our lives become hectic.
- We have too much to do and too little time to get it done.
- Our health deteriorates.
- Relationships suffer.
- Life seems to spin out of control.
In essence – we become ‘Marthas’! I spent most of my life as a ‘Martha’.
What was Martha doing? She was being busy! Doing this and that, trying to get everything ‘perfect’ for the Lord (as she viewed it should be). But Jesus said that only ONE thing was needed and that Mary had discovered it and that it would not be taken away from her – she was sitting at the Lord’s feet listening to what He taught. So how does that apply to us today?
We need to take some time every day, sit down in a quiet place all alone with no distractions (at His feet) allowing nothing to pull us away from Him, and read, listen to, and absorb what He is teaching – His Holy Living Word – The Bible. Remember Jesus went on to say in verse 42 – “that it will not be taken from her”.
Jesus is telling us – stop doing so much and come sit and listen to what He is teaching us in His Word. And that HE will handle most of the doing – He will direct your steps so that what gets done is more effective and is in the correct time.
Many times what we think needs to be done NOW can wait, and often if we wait, we find that it really did not need to be done at all – we just thought it did.
Isaiah 40:31 (NLT)
31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
We all tend to view our lives through our lenses of experience.
Each one of us has different experiences and therefore we have different views of any given situation.
Often we carry our burdens instead of coming to Jesus and giving them to Him. Sometimes we forget, sometimes we get tired, sometimes we think we shouldn’t ‘bother’ Jesus with such a “small thing” (nothing is too bothersome for Jesus). So we pile up one ‘small thing’ on top of another until we have an overwhelming ‘burden’ that we cannot, and were not designed to carry!
This often leads us to then find someone to blame. If we are married that quickly becomes a spouse. When truth be told – we are the ones who made our own choices. God gave us a free will and told us to give the burdens to Him.
Sometimes we allow the enemy to sneak up on us using the cares of this world. What are ‘cares’? Things that BOTHER us:
- Those extra 10 pounds
- Somebody talking ‘not nice’ about/to us
- A broken fingernail
- Yelling at our kids
- Computer too slow
- Spouse won’t do this or that
- You name it – every little thing that bothers us is a ‘care’
We (yes us Wonder Women!), allow these ‘cares’ to sneak in and build up gnawing at our self-esteem, so that soon we are feeling overwhelmed and running on empty.
If the enemy can get your self-esteem – then he’s got YOU.
So his number one tactic is to wear you down with the ‘cares’ of this world so that you no longer believe that you can come to Jesus, or you are simply just too darn tired to at the end of the day.
Baby Girl
Have you ever seen a little baby girl out somewhere – maybe at a fair or a playground, and she is suddenly frightened… she turns and runs… where?
Picture this little baby girl, pretty pink dress, she’s playing, content, happy, then a ‘care’ comes along – perhaps a larger child, a dog, or something else that she is unfamiliar with and she turns and runs straight for her daddy – arms reaching up – saying ‘daddy, daddy’…
When the daddy of this baby girl sees her running to him – what does he do?
He immediately turns around and scoops her into his arms of safety and love. It does not matter what ‘care’ it was that had her concerned or scared – her daddy picks her up immediately, scoops her in his arms and loves her and comforts her.
Jesus told us that God is our Abba Father. Abba is Aramaic and the closest translation we have in English is ‘Daddy’. In Aramaic it signifies a close relationship of a father to his child, as well as the childlike trust that a young child puts in his/her father.
Now I understand that some of us did not have real close relationships with our earthly Dads, and perhaps we may not have been able to run to our Daddy and feel safe. But your Heavenly Father – your Daddy God He clearly says over and over in His Word that we are to run to Him.
So every little ‘care’ you have – your Daddy God, Abba Father is waiting and ready to scoop you up into His arms.
How many of you have children? How many of you have grown children?
Would you agree that those children no matter how old they get – they will always be your ‘baby boy’ or your ‘baby girl’? Ok then, know that no matter how old you may get to be here in this lifetime, you will always be God’s ‘baby girl’. Every time you have a ‘care’, you should turn in your mind and run to your Daddy God – hold up your arms, and say ‘Abba, Abba, Abba’ – Daddy God! He will instantaneously pick you up and take that ‘care’ away from you.
This world will try to wear you down with ‘cares’ – finances, jobs, cars, computers, cell phones, spouses, kids, clothes, pets – situation after situation – but all you have to do is turn to your Abba Father.
Romans 8:1New Living Translation (NLT)
8 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
You can come to Him anytime. He is always waiting for you.
Robin R. Robbins