I know how to do many things. I know how to grow a beautiful cottage garden. I know how to use the quadratic formula to find the roots of a polynomial equation. I even know how to look up biblical terms in their original Greek and Hebrew. But there is something that I have absolutely no clue how to do.

Slowing down.  

The past four months have probably been the busiest of my life. I traveled over 2000 miles in Virginia and spoke in nine cities.  In March, we  remodeled the upstairs of our home. In May, we had two children graduate from college.  In July, my niece lived with us and we helped her to make forward progress on her goals.  Then, we moved one child to a new apartment in another city and went on vacation, which is where I am writing this post.

I have done so many things! And now I sit here, literally on top of a mountain, with a 300 degree view, trying so hard to do the impossible.

I’m having trouble slowing down.

We arrived at this beautiful mountain home last night and I’ve spend the past twelve hours working nonstop trying to relax.

I’ve taken a walk. I’ve sat in a rocking chair downstairs. I’ve sat on the futon in the loft. I’ve sat in the portico and under the covered porch and in the den. I’ve drank coffee in the swing and in the cane-backed rocking chair and on the bar stool. I keep moving and rocking and swinging, longing for my mind to slow down and my shoulders to relax and my heart to be still.

Still. God tell us to be still.

Honestly, its hard to go from a furious-paced city life to the slowness of the top of a mountain. It’s a tough transition, like going from the 75 mph interstate to the 20 mph small town street. Today, I have nowhere to go and no one to see. Shoot, I may not even shower or get dressed. I literally can sit on top of my mountain and watch the river flow by and get excited when a car comes up the road. All from the comfort of my periwinkle house sweater and my pajama pants.

It sounds glorious but I’m struggling this morning. It’s hard work trying to unwind. But I know that I need to slow down. We can run the rat race of life but we have to pull away periodically to rest. We have to slow down enough to be present “in the moment.” Our bodies were not built to perpetually run on high octane caffeine and little sleep.

As my body, soul, and spirit seek rest today, I’m reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 11. In this oft-quoted verses, Jesus tells us how to achieve rest:

“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.” Matthew 11:28-30.

Four verbs in this verses stick out to me.

Come.

Give.

Take.

Find.

First, Jesus instructs us to “come.” The first step in slowing down is to come to Him. You can come to Him in the first thoughts of your day, while waiting at a stop light, while eating your lunch in between meetings, or at the end of your day. You can take a moment, or several moments, and come to Him at any time. He is always with you and He simply waits for you to come.

Jesus bids us to come, and then He says He will “give” us rest. I love that the responsibility in this part of the verse is on Him. Jesus performs the action of giving us rest.

Then, Jesus instructs us to “take” His yoke upon us. How wonderful that Jesus describes His yoke as EASY. Kind of like “Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.” Using this analogy of wearing a yoke, like a beast of burden, I imagine myself yoked together with Jesus, but He is carrying the load. I just need to simply walk alongside Him while He does the hard work. This yoke is easy, the work is light.

If we take the yoke of Jesus upon us, Jesus tells us that we will “find” rest for our souls. While rest often seems elusive in our daily grind and even on the quiet mountain top, Jesus tells us how to find it.

Jesus spells out the process of finding rest. First, we come to Him. Then, we allow Him to give us rest. Next, we take His yoke upon us. Then, we discover rest for our souls.

We find the rest that our souls crave walking beside Jesus. Jesus will carry our burdens and worries and struggles as we just simply walk. We put one foot in front of the other, taking one step at a time, walking with our friend, Jesus.

There is peace to be found when we walk with Jesus. Whether you are tending to needy children, or running between meetings, or driving across your state, when you turn to Jesus, and take His easy yoke upon you, your soul will find rest.

So do that right now. Just say, “Jesus, I come to you, and I take your yoke and I walk beside you. Now, you promise to give me rest, so I ask for it in Your name. Amen.”

Do it now. Jesus says to you, “Come.”

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