All Who Are Weary: A 5-Day Study to Find Rest for Your SoulExemplo

You might know what it’s like to walk around with your shoulders sagging, your head down, and your eyes only half open. Maybe sleep deprivation is to blame. Maybe it’s stressors at work, health concerns, life with a newborn, or the weariness that comes from sitting awake waiting for our teenager to come home.

But our exhaustion can run much deeper. Many of us are worn emotionally, spiritually, mentally. We’re burned out by the pressure to perform; we’re tired of fear grabbing us by the ankles; we wish we could stop constantly feeling like we’re letting people down. A solid night of sleep or a weeklong vacation would help. But that only scratches the surface.

We need deep rest for our souls. We need to step out of the darkness, to let go of the burdens we were never meant to carry. We need to abandon the lies, fears, and unhealthy expectations. Only then can we carry what we are meant to carry with joy and endurance.

Our culture so often preaches a message telling us to do whatever makes us happy. But Christ has so much more for us. We’re given the task of loving God and loving others, of living lives that reflect His character and His kingdom.

But we will never be able to do that well if instead we’re carrying a whole bunch of junk that trips us up and wears us out.

In Matthew 11, Jesus calls His listeners to give up the burdens they’re carrying, to stop hitching themselves to exhausting and impossible standards of the law and of the culture. Instead, He’s saying, Here, I have something better. Hitch yourself to Me, and when you take up My yoke, when you go My way, you’ll find the deep, lasting rest that you need.

The truth is that there is no lighter burden than what Christ gives us. Even so, we heap weight after weight upon our backs—burdens we were never meant to carry. And we’re exhausted because of it.

It’s time to take those off. Our souls are weary from carrying condemnation, carrying worry, carrying despair. What would it look like if we threw off all those weights?

Jesus invites us—the weary, the tired, the discouraged, the broken down—to come to Him, place our burdens at His feet, and rest in the grace, goodness, and love he offers instead.