Posted on Monday, January 29, 2024

The Kind of Person God Uses

by Josh Reich

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

All of us want to live a life without regrets. But is that even possible? Yes and no.

The reality is that we will all navigate feelings of guilt, shame, and regrets. The reason is because they are powerful.

At the end of 2 Timothy, Paul says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Imagine getting to the end of your life and saying that. Saying I have done what I was supposed to do. I left it all on the field of life. I kept the faith. I ran my race.

But how does that happen? How do you and I get to where we can say that?

Much of what is in 2 Timothy is Paul telling Timothy (and us) how to make that true in our lives.

In chapter 2, he tells us three things that are true of a person who can say that: they are approved by God, they are pure, and they are a servant.

Approved by God

Paul tells Timothy that a follower of Jesus is one of God’s. Paul says in verse 19: God knows who belongs to Him. What a promise.

Many of us, though, struggle to believe that God loves us. We spend most of our lives trying to earn God’s love, trying to prove ourselves to God, trying to beat our willpower into submission instead of living in the grace of God. This is why Paul says in chapter 2, verse 1: Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Right now, as a follower of Jesus, you have all of God’s love, all of God’s approval, all of God’s attention. There isn’t anything you can do to get more of God’s love, acceptance, and attention.

What would it look like today to live as if that were true?

One of the things I’ve started to do is ask God for help in believing this when I struggle to believe it.

An amazing promise for every follower of Jesus.

Pure

Paul then says that the person who lives without regrets, the person God uses significantly, is pure.

He uses the illustration of vessels in a house; there is gold and silver for a particular use, honorable use, and some things made for dishonorable use.

God uses those who are holy, set apart, different, and clean.

One of the themes in this book is Paul’s saying how he has lived his life without regrets; he has a clear conscience.

One of the themes in 2 Timothy is how to live a life without regrets; to have a clear conscience.

In your life, do you strive for purity? Do you have things to help you have a pure heart, mind, body, and soul?

Servant

The third and final thing Paul says about a person God uses is they are a servant.

All of this connects to the verses before (2 Timothy 2:1 – 13), where Paul says that a follower of Jesus is like a soldier, athlete, and farmer.

A servant seeks to serve their master and Lord. Which is the heartbeat of every follower of Jesus: to serve the will of God.

Do you look for opportunities to serve God and others? Without getting any glory?

3 truths about people who God uses to change the world.

Posted on Wednesday, January 24, 2024

4 Ways to Get Unstuck when You’re in a Rut

by Josh Reich

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

Have you ever felt like you were in a rut? Maybe in your marriage, you and your spouse keep missing each other no matter what you try. Maybe as a parent, you feel like you are stuck and just can’t get moving. Or spiritually, this happens when we feel like we are going through the motions. The same thing happens with friendships, our careers, or fitness goals.

Stuck.

It describes so many people and how we live our lives.

Spinning our tires.

Not moving forward. Maybe even moving backward.

That feeling that no matter what you do personally or in your church, you never get anywhere. Nothing grows, nothing changes, nothing gets better, and sometimes it even gets worse.

Your marriage doesn’t change, your health doesn’t improve, and you still can’t talk to your kids or boss. You still have no idea what to do with your life, how to get out of debt, or how to let go of your past hurts.

Stuck.

When that happens, what do you do?

Here are 4 ways to get unstuck in life, marriage, or ministry:

4 ways to get unstuck in life, marriage or ministry.

Have a Plan. You can’t change anything without a plan. You have to identify what is wrong, what needs to change, and what the future would look like if it changed. Often, we move forward without any kind of plan for what we hope to accomplish. When this happens, and nothing changes, we can lose heart and give up.

Be Intentional. After coming up with a plan, you can be intentional. In the same way that it takes very little effort to go into debt or put weight on, it takes an enormous effort to get out of debt and lose weight. A plan won’t be enough; you must create accountability and attach dates and times to things. If you will have a weekly date night, what night will it be? If you reach a certain benchmark at work, when will that be completed, and what steps will you take to get there?

You have all the time you need to do everything you want to do.

Everything Gets a Minute. Anything worthwhile in your life has a minute attached to it. Whenever someone says, “I wish I could do ____, but I don’t have time,” they are usually lying to themselves. They don’t care enough to make that happen. The reality is you have all the time you need to do everything you want to do. If you want to do something, you will find the time. Taking a class, reading a book to grow, exercising, and getting more sleep, no matter what, you will find the time if you want something bad enough.

You might think, but I would still like to do ____ but can’t find the time. Then, it might not be the season for you to do that. Just because you want to do something doesn’t mean this is the moment. You might have young kids at home, so returning to school isn’t for right now. That’s okay.

Everything that gets done in life has a minute attached to it.

Every time you say yes to something, you say no to something else. You shouldn’t do everything. One reason many people get stuck is they try to do everything. When you say yes to signing your child up for a sport, you say no to less stress, dinners as a family, and other things. Is that bad? It depends on your life, goals, and what you hope to accomplish. Only you can answer that; the answer changes in different seasons as you age and your kids get older. A silly example: Katie and I have talked about how much TV we want to watch (this is the minute idea). Any time we add a new show that starts, we agree we need to stop watching another show; otherwise, we will spend more time than we want to watch TV.

Every time you say yes to something, you say no to something else.

Posted on Monday, January 22, 2024

The Power of Focus

by Josh Reich

Photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash

One of the hardest parts of life is the ability to focus. I don’t know about you, but my mind often wanders, tempted to pick up my phone and mindlessly scroll through Instagram. Staying on task is hard work.

But have you noticed that people who accomplish great things in life and live without regrets (2 Timothy 4:7) can stay focused on the task?

Even when that task is difficult or painful.

But what does that look like when you run from one thing to the next? What does that look like in our relationships with other people and our relationship with God?

In 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul gives us 3 incredibly helpful images as we think about how hard life should be, what to do when life is hard, and how not to be surprised when encountering difficulties.

Paul tells Timothy that following Jesus and being faithful to finish our race well will be like being a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. Each of these gives us a glimpse of what life and faith will be like, but we often forget them.

3 images that show us what following Jesus is like.

Soldier

Paul says following Jesus is a lot like being a soldier. Soldiers put everything on the line; you are always on in war.

You don’t get distracted in a battle.

A soldier is willing to suffer, knowing it will not be easy, and willing to lay it on the line.

A soldier has said yes before an order has been given.

Soldiers in active service do not expect a safe or easy time. They take hardship, risk, and suffering as a matter of course.

A soldier is always a soldier, just like a Christian is always a Christian.

Which means he doesn’t worry about the things everyone else worries about. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t worry about food or shelter, but “civilian pursuits” refer to priorities. As followers of Jesus, our priorities must differ from others in the same way that the priorities of a soldier differ from the rest of the population.

Following Jesus takes total dedication.

The reality is few Christians in America will die for their faith. But, the more faithful you are, the more God works and moves in your life, and the more roadblocks and hardships Satan will send your way.

To be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we must be dedicated to the battle, committing ourselves to a life of discipline and suffering, and avoiding whatever may ‘entangle’ us and distract us from it.

Athlete

The Greek word in verse 5 for compete here also means “to contest, contend, wrestle and struggle.”

For many of us who follow Jesus, this is often what it feels like, and for good reason. Paul tells us that we shouldn’t be surprised.

An athlete who succeeds has a lot of talent, gifts, determination, and willpower. These are needed to work your body, the sacrifice of working out, eating right, the discipline, the struggle to keep going when you don’t feel like moving.

An athlete’s life revolves around their sport, even in the offseason. They take breaks and rest so they can perform at a high level.

Each athlete for the Olympics during Paul’s time had to state on oath that he had fulfilled the necessary ten months’ training before he was permitted to enter the contest.

And here’s the thing about athletic competitions. I always hear something at the gym: the bar doesn’t lie. This means that whatever is on the bar when you lift, that’s what you can lift. Not, “Oh man, one time I lifted this.” You can’t hide if you didn’t train. You will not have the endurance or the strength. If you haven’t lifted weights, you can’t show up at the powerlifting meet and squat 500 pounds. No amount of steroids or HGH will cover up a lack of training.

In the same way, it will be your dedication to Jesus.

We cannot fake our faith or commitment to Jesus. In the end, it will become obvious one way or the other.

Farmer

A farmer works long, hard hours in the cold, heat, rain, and drought.

He does not work when it is convenient but when he has to. The seasons don’t wait for him. The rain comes, and the sun shines; he doesn’t know when. But he must be prepared to act when they do and make adjustments when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

He has to plant at the right time and harvest at the right time; he must always be ready to go at a moment’s notice, as a storm can come at any time.

While there are moments of excitement, being a farmer is mostly ordinary and mundane. In the same way, while there is excitement and risk in following Jesus, most of our time following Jesus will not be in big mountain-top moments but in the ordinary, often mundane moments of life.

Most of our time following Jesus will not be in big mountain-top moments but in the ordinary, often mundane moments of life.

Walter Liefeld said, “The military image here has to do not with warfare but with disciplined obedience; the athletic image deals less with success and more with conformity to the rules; the agricultural image stresses hard work.”

Paul tells Timothy that finishing your race will require endurance, discipline, and perseverance.

Faithfulness will require endurance, discipline, and perseverance.

No matter what you are facing, whether it is your faith, a prayer you’ve been praying, your career, parenting or marriage, faithfulness will require endurance, discipline, and perseverance.

The power of focus.

Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2024

When Life Gets Hard…

by Josh Reich

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

All of us have lived through a challenging season. You might be in one now, just coming out of one, or one will be coming next year.

They can happen when we least expect it: a disruption in our career or finances, a child that is hard to parent, a spouse who suddenly becomes distant, a sickness we didn’t expect or plan for, or simply life not going as we planned.

Challenges.

They are relational, financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical.

They know no limits. Challenges have no heart, so they aren’t worried about you and your survival.

The question isn’t if we will walk through them but how to do so. Often, especially as followers of Jesus, we are surprised when difficulties come our way. But we shouldn’t be. Jesus and the disciples all experienced difficulties. Jesus told us we should expect them and prepare for them.

Difficulties don’t mean you are doing something wrong or have sinned; it might just mean you are alive.

Difficulties don’t mean you are doing something wrong or have sinned; it might just mean you are alive.

But what do you do when it arrives? How do you handle the phone call you weren’t expecting or the betrayal you never thought could happen?

If you find yourself in that place or want to prepare better, here are 3 questions to ask yourself:

3 questions to ask during a challenging season.

What is God trying to teach me in this season? It is easy to get angry in a challenging season and blame the person you think caused it. You may be right, but doing that will not help you. Eventually, that will exhaust you, and you’ll still be in a challenging season. So take a day, be angry, and then wake up tomorrow and start looking forward. By asking this question, you begin to understand what God is trying to do, which is helpful because it takes our eyes off ourselves. God does not waste experiences and moments. He uses them for his glory and our good.
What is God preparing me for by having me in this season? Because God doesn’t waste moments, what we walk through today is helpful for tomorrow. Begin looking forward, looking, and asking God for what He is doing.
What is God’s invitation to me in this season? This question comes from Jim Cofield in The Relational Soul: Moving from False Self to Deep Connection. This has been a powerful reminder to me in moments of pain and hurt. Often, in a place of challenge and difficulty, God is stripping away my arrogance and confidence in myself and teaching me to rely on Him.

But how do we move forward in that season? It is one thing to spend some time digging into what God is doing, but how do we live in a challenging season that might last for years or our whole lives? How do we live with the losses that pile up in life?

How to survive a challenging season.

In his book Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth, Samuel Chand lists five things we know about God or learn through difficult seasons:

God never abandons us, even when we can’t sense his presence.
Our faith and character are developed most powerfully in times of adversity.
God sometimes delivers us from pain, but he often delivers us through it.
Life’s most defining moments are usually painful experiences.
We do not grow in those moments by default.

5 promises of God to you in a challenging season.

Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2024

How to Hire the Right Church Staff

by Josh Reich

Photo by Ryan Riggins on Unsplash

Every leader and pastor knows that to reach the goals you have in your heart for your church and to fulfill the mission that God has called you to, you must find the right team. Nothing is more important than the people you put around you. Whether they are elders, volunteers, or church staff. This has never been more important, but with COVID, this has never been more difficult.

All leaders know that nagging feeling. It keeps them up at night and gives them indigestion. It creates anxiety, stress, and even anger. What is it from? Having the wrong person in a leadership role. Sometimes, it might be a mismatch of skill; it may be that the person isn’t capable of leading a ministry or team at the size it is. This happens when someone struggles to lead at the new size of a church, as leading in a church of 100 is different than leading in a church of 500. The mismatch can also be a character issue you didn’t see before or recently developed.

But how do you know? What do you do with the feeling that someone shouldn’t be in their leadership role?

Jim Collins in Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t said, “Two key questions can help. First, if it were a hiring decision (rather than a “should this person get off the bus?” decision), would you hire the person again? Second, if the person came to tell you that he or she is leaving to pursue an exciting new opportunity, would you feel terribly disappointed or secretly relieved?”

Over the years, these questions have helped me evaluate the leaders that I have and where we are as an organization.

2 questions to ask yourself before hiring that person or placing someone in a leadership role at your church.

This doesn’t mean that if you answer, no you wouldn’t hire this person again, that doesn’t mean you let them go. Especailly if the issue is around competence as opposed to culture fit or character. Compentence is the area that you need to spend time on to level people up if they can be.

What do I mean by that? Not everyone wants to grow as a leader. People are often content to stay where they are and not grow or develop. That isn’t a character flaw or even wrong, but it might mean they can’t continue growing with your church or culture.

But how do you know ahead of time? All of us have led people who shouldn’t be leading, weren’t bought in, or weren’t capable of leading in the role they are in.

In his helpful book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown said, “If the answer isn’t a definite yes, then it should be a no.”

If the answer isn’t a definite yes, then it should be a no. -Greg McKeown

While McKeown was applying that to opportunities, I think it is incredibly applicable to hiring someone, raising a volunteer leader, or putting someone into a new leadership role.

If you have a gut feeling they shouldn’t be there, wait. If a trusted leader tells you to wait, listen up.

If someone seems over-anxious to lead something, wait. If someone seems to be hiding something or something doesn’t add up about them, wait.

There is no harm in waiting.

I know. I hear you, church planter and pastor. You need someone. Who is doing it if you don’t put someone into place?

Possibly you. Possibly no one. You may need to wait on a ministry or miss a vision opportunity because you don’t have the people you need.

There have been times in churches I have been a part of where we have missed opportunities or we’ve not grown or we haven’t done a ministry because we didn’t have a leader. This is hard and sometimes people leave because of it, and you lose momentum or people.

Those are never easy, but they are all easier than removing the wrong person.

2 things to remember before you put someone into a leadership role at your church.

Posted on Monday, January 8, 2024

How to ReFocus in the New Year

by Josh Reich

Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash

In 2 Timothy, Paul tells Timothy: Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

This is incredibly important as we start a new year. Many of us have spent time thinking about last year, growth plans for the new year, praying through, and coming up with a word for the year, all so that we can focus on the new year. This is a great thing.

But Paul tells Timothy to rekindle the gift of God. We don’t know for sure what the gift was that Paul was talking about, but it gives us the idea that whatever it was, it had started to fade or fizzle out. Our passions, drive, and focus can all fizzle out. This is why it is so important as we start a new year to take stock of where we are and where God wants us to be in the coming year. Not so we can come up with new goals or resolutions but so we can have focus as we move into the new year.

How to refocus when we get off track.

Many of us don’t need something new but to be reminded of what we have and what God has entrusted to us.

Many of us don’t need something new but need to be reminded of what we have and what God has entrusted to us.

To help you focus this year, here are 8 questions Brad Lomenick asks in his book, The Catalyst Leader:

What are the 2-3 themes that personally define me?
What people, books, accomplishments, or special moments created highlights for me recently?
Give yourself a grade from 1-10 in the following areas of focus: vocationally, spiritually, family, relationally, emotionally, financially, physically, and recreationally.
What am I working on that is BIG for the next year and beyond?
As I move into this next season or year, is most of my energy spent on things that drain or energize me?
How am I preparing for 10 years from now? 20 years from now?
What 2-3 things have I been putting off that I need to execute before the end of the year?
Is my family closer than a year ago? Am I a better friend than a year ago? If not, what needs to change immediately?

Many of us don’t need something new. We, like Timothy, need to rekindle what God has called us to.

When we do, we can move forward in that power, love, and sound judgment instead of living from a place of fear.

How do we know the difference?

We live from a place of fear when we live someone else’s goal for our lives, fall into what everyone else is doing, and live in a way that doesn’t honor God or his word. Too many people live someone else’s life or someone else’s dream. Timothy could’ve struggled with this very easily. His mentor and spiritual father was the apostle Paul. A man who wrote 2/3 of the New Testament and planted many churches. Those are huge shoes to fill. Yet, Paul says, “Don’t fill my shoes. Fill what God has called you to, be who God created you to be.”

In this New Year, fulfill what God has called you to. Be who God created and called you to be.

In this New Year, fulfill what God has called you to. Be who God created and called you to be.

Posted on Wednesday, December 27, 2023

How to Let Go to Move Forward

by Josh Reich

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

The reality of resurrection requires the reality of death first. -Alan Fadling

As we close the year and look towards the new year and all that we hope it will be, we need to take stock of what was.

Maybe for you, this past year was all you hoped and imagined.

It may not be the year you hoped for.

Whatever the case, there are lessons in there and celebrations.

5 Questions to Get Your Life on Track

In his book Get Your Life Back, John Eldredge has some questions to help us see the state of our lives, how rested we are, and how weary and burdened we are.

Here are a few, and as you read them, be honest with yourself, how are you right now?:

Are you content & satisfied most of the time? Or do you find yourself holding yourself and others to an impossible standard? How much of life do you enjoy?

How often do you feel lighthearted? This gets into how we respond to people, the important question of what it is like to be on the other side of me. When you respond to people, do your reactions match the situation? Or do you fly off the handle?

Are you excited about your future? Do you dream about what God has for you? Do you have time to dream?

Maybe you won’t be excited about the coming year as we get to the end of the year. You might have a sense of foreboding. A clear signal of weariness is the inability to dream or hope about the future. That doesn’t mean you are depressed, but it could be a sign of being tired.

Do you feel deeply loved? Whether or not we feel loved has an enormous impact on our lives. Many of us are addicted to things because of a lack of love.

This also helps us see where we are in our relationship with God, others, and ourselves.

When was the last time you laughed so hard it hurt? Are you always serious, or can you let your hair down and go with the flow?

This is one of the keys to knowing when I need to let go of something or I’m running too hard. Laughter and enjoyment is a crucial part of living and finding wholeness.

5 Questions to ask yourself at the end of the year

Posted on Friday, December 22, 2023

My Favorite Books of the Year

by Josh Reich

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

It’s that time of year when I review what I’ve read and list out my favorite books of the year!

Over the last few years, I’ve read fewer non-fiction books and more history or novels. It doesn’t need to be published this year to make my favorite list, just one I read during the year.

Below is a photo of my favorite books of the year, with my favorite one on top. To see everything I read this year, go here.

If you’re curious about past years’ lists, click on the numbers: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

First, the fun books!

I read way more novels, biographies, and historical books this year.

Here are my 5 favorite novels or history books of the year:

My favorite novels of 2023

My favorite history books of the year.

Here are my favorite books of the year. They aren’t in any order, as it was hard to nail down a favorite, but if I had to, I would say my top 3 were: Thriving through Ministry Conflict: A Parable on How Resistance Can Be Your Ally, Sage: A Man’s Guide Into His Second Passage and The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.

The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality. I wish everyone had read this book. It gave words to what I’ve seen in our culture but haven’t been able to articulate.

Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving. This was a book that a group of pastors I met with read, and it was eye-opening. It was also comforting to know that some of my feelings are normal.

The Weary Leader’s Guide to Burnout: A Journey from Exhaustion to Wholeness. Read this book if you’re weary, tired, or burned out. This past year, I found myself feeling run down and tired, not burned out, thankfully, and this book was a godsend when I read it.

Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue. Friedman takes the stance that to lead well in a church; you must understand the family systems of that church. If you are leading a church in transition like I am, this book is invaluable to understand how your church functions, what the family of origin story of your church is, and how that is still impacting your church (even if all those people are gone).

The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus. Every year, I re-read a book; this year, this is the one. I read it years ago, but now that I’m older and in a different spot in ministry, it was incredibly helpful to go back through it. There are tons of insights for pastors on how to move at the pace of God.

Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America’s Future. This is a book that all pastors and parents need to read. It gave me insight into my kids and their friends, my life, and my generation. This is the first time there are 5 generations in churches and the workforce, and it is important to understand their needs and desires and how they view the world.

The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. This book was so insightful on what makes people happy. they have followed a group of people for over 80 years, including their kids, to see what we can learn from people’s lives. This book caused me to rethink some things in my relational world.

Thriving through Ministry Conflict: A Parable on How Resistance Can Be Your Ally. This was the first book I read for my doctoral program, and it blew me away. It is written as a fable and follows a new pastor at his church and his experiences. It so closely mirrored my experience of moving to New England; it was eerie.

Sage: A Man’s Guide Into His Second Passage. You need to read this book if you are a man close to 40 or over 40. It helps explain what you feel physically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. There were a lot of aha moments for me and things to think through so that my second half is all that it can be.

The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership. You’re probably picking up a theme in the books I read and loved this year. As I get older and watch more and more pastors quit, fail, or burn out, I’m seeing how hard it is to make it to the end and finish well, and I desire not to be a statistic.

Posted on Thursday, December 14, 2023

Top Blog Posts of 2023

by Josh Reich

Photo by Alejandro Escamilla on Unsplash

As we get closer to the end of the year, many people post their favorite and top lists for the year. Stay tuned for my favorite books of the year post.

Here are the year’s top posts, in case you missed them or want to go back. Thanks for reading and coming along the journey with me!

The 10 most read blog posts of the year.

10 blog posts to help pastors in 2024.

Posted on Monday, December 11, 2023

How to Find Rest for Your Weary Body and Soul in December

by Josh Reich

rest

Photo by Alex Padurariu on Unsplash

Almost everyone I talk to right now is exhausted. Not just physically but also emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Especially around the holidays.

I talk with many people (and I feel this some days as well); we just need to make it through the holidays to January!

Our exhaustion comes from a lot of places:

You may find yourself as a parent pulling your hair out as you navigate school and schedules.
Juggling work, to-do lists, errands.
The parties that never end, the shopping, the gifts.
Most of us rush from one meeting to the next. One thing to the next.
Maybe you are retired or have more time than you used to, but you find yourself mentally exhausted and don’t know why.
Or you may have never been busier or more exhausted in your job.

Why December is so tiring.

All of this causes us to miss things in life. We miss opportunities because we are too tired, frazzled, and busy. We miss out on moments in relationships because of our pace.

Our health suffers. As we sleep less, we spend more time on technology. We have become unhealthier and lonelier. We grab sleeping pills or alcohol, anything to help us fall asleep or numb ourselves.

Our relationship with God suffers as we take less time to talk or listen to him.

But often, instead of slowing down, we add more things to the list. We double down on working harder, pushing harder when we need to slow down and rest.

In Matthew 11, Jesus gives us one of the most amazing invitations to come to him and rest. He says:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus says so much here that I don’t want us to miss:

Come to me. Jesus invites us to come. Many of us have this idea that God doesn’t want us, but Jesus tells us that isn’t true. He invites us. Relating to God, spiritual practices begin with the belief, the knowledge that God wants to be with us. To know us, for us to know Him. To experience life and rest in Jesus, we must believe that God wants us to come to him and that God wants to restore our lives.

Again, who does he invite?

All you who are weary and burdened. How do you know if that’s you? How do you know if you need to come to Jesus for rest? Often, we think we aren’t that tired or if we can push through this next week or month. But we are usually kidding ourselves with that. Too often, instead of finding rest, we try to survive life with sugar or caffeine throughout the day, a donut to get us going in the morning, 5-hour energy to get us through the afternoon, pushing harder and harder, working late into the night and then when our brains are wired, taking a sleeping pill to fall asleep.

About this passage, Dane Ortlund said, “You don’t need to unburden or collect yourself and then come to Jesus. Your very burden is what qualifies you to come.“

You don’t need to unburden or collect yourself and then come to Jesus. Your very burden is what qualifies you to come. -Dane Ortlund

What an amazing truth. Your burden, weariness, and exhaustion qualify you to come to Jesus.

Jesus says, “I will give you rest.” Rest is a gift from God. It is from his generosity when we come to him. This is more than a nap or a long night’s sleep. This is soul rest.

You are at rest…

When you know you are loved by God and no longer strive to be loved.
You are at rest…when you no longer work too hard to prove yourself worthwhile to others.
You are at rest…when you no longer try to control everything.
You are at rest…when you stop worrying and surrender your worries and anxieties to God.

How to be truly at rest.

Jesus says, “Walk with me, take my yoke, and learn from me.” We learn from Jesus as we walk with him. Side by side. In the ancient world, farmers would put two animals in a yoke. One animal was strong, and one was weaker. The weaker animal was often younger or less mature.

So Jesus invites us to take his yoke, not only cause he is stronger than we are, but so we can learn from him. We can walk with him, apprentice to Jesus, and become more like him as we work and walk with him. Jesus says, “I am stronger than you. Come, and I will do the heavy lifting.” As we practice resting and slowing down, we become more like Jesus. We walk with Jesus.

What a gift.

Then, Jesus tells us what we experience in this: I am gentle and humble in heart.

We run and run, often from God, but from others and ourselves because of fear. Jesus says we can come to him because he is gentle. Jesus is gentle and humble in heart.

This is who God is. This is the God we rest with. Rest in. One of my kids is a snuggle, and I love when he gets close. I often imagine this is what Jesus is saying here. I am gentle; I will give you comfort.

You will find rest. What do we find? Rest.

A soul rest.

A peace.

Contentment. A deep, trusting calm.

And lifting when we trust God instead of trusting ourselves.

My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. This verse is the only time the word easy is used in the bible.

Jesus invites us to get as close as possible, to walk with him. When we are linked with him, that’s where rest happens, where life is abundant and full. When we think of God, we often think of him as giving us burdens, but he doesn’t.

If you and I are carrying burdens, they aren’t from God but things we are to give to God. Anything that is keeping you from rest is given to God. Anything that keeps you from being present with God, others, or yourself, give it to God. Anything that weighs you down keeps you up at night; give it to God.

This is why Peter invites us to Give all our worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

What do you need to give to Jesus this Christmas so you can rest?

What yoke do you carry that you need to lay down and let Jesus take?

God wants to walk with us. God wants us to experience rest and life. God wants to take our burdens and help us live free and light.

How to find rest in December.