Sometimes it can feel like we’re on our own in handling life’s challenges, especially with the responsibilities and expectations after graduation. But through this verse, God reminds us that we never walk alone, especially when it’s Him we’re living for.
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light,” says the Lord. What if we lived our lives as if God was the only person we had to please? I believe our lives would be filled with more joy and love, instead of fear and pride. In a world that values success and advancement, I have been thinking lately about how the only true success in life is whether we know, love, and serve God. What is He asking me to do in this very moment? Did I take the time to listen to someone who needed me? Did I take the time to rest and sit in God’s presence while soaking in His peace and love? God is simply waiting for us to remember that He is here with us, even closer than our own breath as he dwells within us.
“Be still and know that I am God” has also echoed in my soul recently (Psalm 46:10). I have felt God reminding me that instead of trying to be, I should just be. We can tend to base our worth on our accomplishments and even make an idol out of them. Often these tendencies are rooted in the lie of shame, which says, “I’m not good enough for who I am, but for what I contribute.” But ultimately God loves us, his children, not for what we do, but for who we are. In fact, the God who created billions of galaxies decided that we should also be here, and loved our very being into existence when He formed us in our mother’s womb.
With this in mind, let us allow God to direct our path instead of navigating it alone. Let us allow God’s love to cast out the expectations and unnecessary burdens that we place upon ourselves. We can rest in the knowledge that being beloved children of God is the only identity we are truly defined by. Through our surrender, we can hear the Holy Spirit whisper to us in the silence of our hearts, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
