“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

In these verses the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, extends a personal invitation for all who are over-burdened by sin or distress to come to Him for rest. Whatever the weight may be that is heavy upon our hearts, the Lord promises rest, if we will come to Him.

In Psalm 55 David faced seemingly insurmountable problems: “My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me” (vv.4,5). At this point, he reasoned that rest could only come by changing locations. “Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest” (v.6).

But can we really find true rest and peace by running away from our problems? Of course not! David finally realized what the answer was when he said, “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (v.22). He concluded that “flying away” would solve nothing, but rolling the burden on the Lord would solve everything.

The promise, “He shall sustain thee” (v.22) is the same as in Matthew 11:28,29: “Ye shall find rest unto your souls” and “I will give you rest.” When the Lord says, “I will,” He means, “I will!”

Faith is taking God at His word. The Lord will always do exactly what He has promised. To the seeker, He has promised rest for his coming. Since Christ has already “borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4), it seems senseless to try to carry them ourselves. NPS