Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Matthew 11: 28-30)
His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Over the past few weeks, I have wondered, “Is it really easy and light? It doesn’t feel that way.” I’m not certain it generally helps to consider that Christ suffered far more than I do. It isn’t a comparison game I want to play. Instead, various circumstances in life arise which can make us wonder how Jesus can say that what we are receiving in life is easy and light. The stress might not amount to the crucifixion, but it can still feel paralyzing. The pain might not compare to the scourging, but it can still feel crippling.
And yet Jesus always speaks what is true: His yoke is easy, His burden light.
Not that long ago, in a Bible study in prison, we were talking about this passage from Matthew’s Gospel. As different questions were asked, we spent a little time talking about a yoke and how it would look to be “yoked” to Jesus. The image that came to mind is one that stuck with me in the days that followed. I had mentioned that we step into the yoke/harness shared with Jesus and that He never abandons it, even if we run from the yoke. And I kept coming back to that image of Jesus faithfully shouldering the burden, while I so often long for escape and to slip out of the offered yoke.
His yoke is easy and His burden is light because He bears the struggle with us. The Lord never asks us to go at this alone–He is always right there in the trenches with us.
What is more is that He desires for us to live in community with other people who are pulling in the same direction as us, who help us bear the burdens life hands us. This has been particularly true over the last few weeks in the midst of a situation where I have been compelled to invite people to pray for a particular pressing intention. And the yoke has been easier and the burden lighter as people I haven’t spoken to in over a decade have affirmed they are praying, as the kind old church ladies declare they are dedicated to praying this intention into reality, and as people check in to see how things are progressing. We’ve all been climbing into the yoke with Jesus and this has made the burden a littler sweeter, a little lighter.
Running away from the yoke won’t solve anything–then we will just be trying to navigate this situation all alone. Instead, despite the apparent heaviness of the yoke and the tangible burden of it all, I have experienced the gift of people pulling in the same direction, offering hope when my own is wavering, and a deepening conviction that whatever the Lord is doing, there is good that will come from this trial.
—
Photo by Pavitra Baxi on Unsplash
Seeking After His Heart 