Don't Give Up - Give in to God

Wave the white flags and put your hands in the air. It’s time to surrender.

Does your heart sink when you hear those words?

Does the word “Defeated” ring in your ears?

Let me encourage you to take a new view of this necessary posture and attitude that is required for a successful Christian walk.

Surrender is to relinquish possession and transferring it to another. Some people have had to surrender their driver’s licenses. Others surrendered their position of control. Still more seem to have surrendered their capacity for reason upon crossing the threshold of an educational institution, never to be seen again.

Matt 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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." (NASB)

I don’t know about you, but my eyes always find the word ‘rest’ in these verses.

STOP

I want to pass over the whole bit about taking Jesus’ yoke on myself. Why in the world is THAT sandwiched in between such lovely thoughts?

Because to be honest, I am weary. I’m tired of “adulting” as some wordsmiths put it. I grew into child raising with my kids, learning as I went and drawing from memories of how my parents did it. But this whole thing of parenting my Alzheimer’s stricken mom is uncharted territory. Being the sole decision maker is daunting. Oh, I do have a husband and sister-in-law who support me but it’s my name on the Power of Attorney, making this baby of the family feel heavy-laden.

I’m looking for rest.

Jesus’s solution is for me to sidle up to Him and slip that yoke over my head. This doesn’t sound so wonderful to me. But it’s only through an act of obedience that reveals the immense blessing I couldn’t see before.  

The yoke makes me close enough to have a private conversation with Him, and He with me. Jesus teaches me how I can shoulder the yoke without chaffing from it. He gives me joy for the journey and points out the beauty that can be found in the midst of the task.

A yoke signifies labor, hard work, and harnessed effort. It serves as a reminder that I don’t trod this earthly sod alone. I am paired with Someone who is gentle and humble in heart Whose greatest joy is to bring me to the Good Place with God. If I trip he won’t leave me. He is right there to get me back on my feet so I can continue.
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The yoke and the burden are part and parcel of this sinful world.
We are all under authority.
We all have to contend with burdensome tasks.
I don’t want to give up.
​I want to give in to God.
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Set your timer and write for five minutes and see what you get from the word prompt of the week. That's what we call Five Minute Friday. Find more posts about our word this week HERE. 

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