Resting in the Lord

Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Mt 11:28-30

The Lord has been speaking to me these days concerning coming to Him and taking rest in Him. I have not been resting in the Lord. Rather, I have been trying my best to do what I think I was supposed to do, so I kept trying and trying, exerting all my energy until the Lord showed me that all that I have been trying means nothing. I must simply come to him and rest in Him.

To toil is the toil of struggling to be successful in any work. Whoever toils thus is always heavily burdened. Such people need rest which is to be in perfect peace and full satisfaction. This is the kind of person I was until the Lord spoke to me through these verses.

Inwardly and secretly I have my works which I think are the Lord's work. Of course, it is, but I have tried to use my natural strength to do the works of the Lord.  Yes, I needed success in my work if at all I get to do anything,. That's what anyone would expect. But the Lord somehow never led me to be successful in the way I wanted it to be. He simply dealt with my natural strength until I get fully exhausted only to acknowledge to the Lord, "Lord I can do nothing without You. I give up. Now, I rest in You."

To accomplish the work that I desire, I also have many words. All the words I have spoken and fellowshipped with people to fulfill my work all seemed to flow over the head. It seems it did not bear the fruits I expected. In this way, the Lord also showed me my words mean nothing without His words. My words, my address, and my fellowships if not from the Lord or of the Lord, they are just empty words.

The ways I have been taking to accomplish the words I desire with the word I have spoken too, came to nothing. All my plans and schemes came to nothing,. What a success! My failure is truly my success. The Lord saved me and opened my eyes to see what I should have seen according to Him. 

In shepherding the new ones and the saints concerning their lives, my words ultimately became futile. I am glad that the Lord has been dealing with me through the people I have been shepherding. They have shown me that without the True Shepherd, I cannot shepherd anyone at all. 

For the past two days, I had been struggling to do something according to what I thought was right. But the Lord stopped me; charging me not to say anything anymore to the one I used to speak to, of course, out of care and concern. The Lord now has stopped me and let me know that if need be He will lead me instantly and arrange the time to speak. This actually happened while mealtime once and I spoke whatever I felt the Lord allowed me to speak. After that, the Lord never gave me another opportunity nor led me to speak on the matter again. Instead, He asked me to take His yoke and rest in Him. 

To take the Lord's yoke is to be constrained by the will of the Father. The Lord’s yoke is the Father’s will, and His burden is the work of carrying out the Father’s will. Such a yoke is easy, not bitter, and such a burden is light, not heavy. This is what the Lord called me to. Now, I am learning this lesson.

This is not an easy lesson to learn, but the Lord has been gracing me to digest this lesson of limiting myself, in fact, putting myself to death that I should only allow Him to speak if at all He feels the need to speak. Otherwise, I simply should stop all my speaking and doings, and simply rest in Him as my true rest. Finally, I am learning to take the Lord's yoke and rest in Him. What a lesson to learn after so much struggling with myself. Oh, what a relief to learn this lesson subjectively!

Lord, I come to You with all my toils and burdens. Please give me rest. Lord, I take Your yoke upon me and learn from You, for You are meek and lowly in heart, and I will find rest for my soul.