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

How it works in God’s family.

God’s “yoke is easy” and “His burden is light“ reads like an oxymoron. How can a yoke be easy and a burden BE light? It doesn’t seem to make any sense when you think about it. Aren’t they opposites? Are they a confusion in terms?

It would appear to be that this is almost a too “difficult to grasp” concept. We get bogged down with our spiritual lives, depending on the day or moment, a victorious life or not so victorious life as the case may be. The burden  indicative of where we are in our spiritual walk.

It is true, they are opposites in the natural realm. Look closely, though. It’s not our burden. It is His burden. It’s not our yoke. It is His yoke. We are in this together. None of us can live this life without Him, at least not successfully. We are a team by way of His redemptive work in us. God is in us. We are in God. With God’s help, we can be returned to health, restored, purified, and healed, all to the glory of God.

We are family. We are in God’s family as His adopted sons and His adopted daughters. God is the calm director of our destiny. He has an amazing plan for each one of us. It is our job to surrender to His leading, to respond to His nudges, to act on His promptings, and to yield our way to His ways. We are not lone rangers.

It’s a formula: God + Me = Relationship.

When we try to get independent of Him, when we strain and pull our own way, the way we think it should go, God’s yoke restrains and tempers us. God prevents us for we are bound to Him. It is rough for awhile. The strain is there. We pull harder. He is steady. Sometimes we are trying to lead in the relationship because we see a goal and think it is the best one for us. But even in this, God will slow or stop us if it is not of his purpose and design for us.

Conversely, when we give up and are weary, discouraged, and unhappy, or we fall and stumble, Father God is there as well. He lifts us up, pulls us through the trying circumstance. He is the unseen force working behind the scenes. On difficult days, He practically carries us. Other times we are allowed a fairly loose rein.

Nothing surprises God. And nothing is too big for Him to manage, not even our mess-ups. He is in the business of restoring a broken world, and a broken people. The Creator loves to come close in relationship with his beloved created beings. We are His offspring. His love is gracious and kind.

I often picture Christ as the One with open arms. On the cross his arms were wide, His death was for all humankind. With the children, His arms were wide; all the children were welcome in His welcoming embrace (we are His children, too).

The next post  is a spiritual inventory assessment that is self-directed. It offers a way to notice your progress, sort of a litmus test.

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LINKS:

Next post: A spiritual selfie (spiritual self-examination), A Spiritual Intervention (23)

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©N. L. Brumbaugh

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