Have you noticed this about life yet? The heavier the load you’re carrying, the faster you run out of gas. That is true for your car—but it’s also true for you.
Some of you are overloaded—physically, emotionally, or relationally. The demands of work, family schedules, or financial pressures are causing significant stress in your life.
Here’s what Jesus said about that;
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV [28] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. [29] 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. [30] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus summarizes the secret of stress management in three simple words—come, take, and learn. If you grab hold of these three solutions to stress, they’re going to change your life.
First Come to Jesus
When you’re feeling overloaded, the antidote to your stress is not a time management plan or a new philosophy. It’s a person—Jesus—and he says, “Come to me.” When life feels heavy, Jesus wants you to turn to him. And when you do, he fills you with rest.
The rest Jesus gives is a special kind of rest. It’s rest for your soul; it’s soul rest. Without it, you’ll be tempted to give up.
This spiritual rest is much deeper than physical rest. It’s the remedy for tension, fatigue, worry, fear, anxiety, guilt, and resentment. Only God can give you the inner peace you need to lower your stress. This doesn’t mean the stressors in your life will go away. They just won’t bother you as much because he is helping you carry them all.
So then why don’t we come to Jesus more often? Because we think we can handle stress on our own. Or we forget that God is waiting for us to call on him. Even if you’re a believer, your first choice when you’re stressed won’t always be to spend quiet time alone with God.
If you’re running on empty today, cry out to God. Spend time with him. You don’t need a program or a plan. You need a person. You need to come to Christ. “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.”
Second Give Up Control
This is so important because one reason you get overloaded is you’re trying to control too much. You think it all depends on you. You are not the general manager of the universe. You can resign, and it won’t fall apart. The greater your need to control, the more stress you’re going to have in life.
But Jesus offers a better way. That’s why it’s important to understand how a yoke works. A yoke is a wooden piece that teams up two animals, allowing them to share the load and make it lighter. The purpose is to make it easier on the animals, not harder.
A yoke is a symbol of partnership. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “I never meant for you to carry all your problems by yourself. Let me help you.” When you yoke up to Jesus, it’s not so you can share his load. It’s so he can share yours.
A yoke is also a symbol of control. Farmers yoke up animals so that they go in the same direction, at the same time, and at the same pace. When you’re not yoked to Jesus, you get into trouble. You end up going too fast, in the wrong direction, sidelined, or in a ditch. Yoked to Jesus, he keeps you from trouble.
Jesus knows exactly where to take you in life because he created you. He knows exactly the pace you should go because he shaped you. He knows your personality. He knows what you can handle and what you can’t handle.
We think the antidote to stress is to escape on vacation, attend a seminar, or go to therapy. Those things can certainly help, but true and lasting relief comes when we yoke up to Jesus and give up control. And every time we do, God gives us peace.
John 14:27 NIV Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Third Learn From Him
Jesus doesn’t say, “Learn from me. I’ll teach you endurance and stamina, confidence and courage, or time management and goal setting.” He says, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble.” He wants us to watch him and replicate what he did.
But learning from Jesus, following his example of gentleness and humility, doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that takes time. You must learn to reduce stress.
Two of the biggest causes of stress in your life are arrogance and aggression. These are the opposites of humility and gentleness.
Aggression happens when you do things too quickly. You don’t wait or think things over. You just jump right in with both feet and you get over-committed.
Arrogance happens when you try to control everything. Arrogance is thinking you know what’s best and everyone’s lives would be easier if they followed your plan.
The truth is when you try to do it all, have it all, be it all, and experience it all, you’re living with an aggressive and arrogant attitude. You’re acting like superman or superwoman. The antidote to aggression and arrogance is gentleness and humility—the kind of life Jesus modeled for us to live.
So how do you learn to be gentle and humble like Jesus? You do it by growing your faith. And when your faith grows, your stress goes down.
How do you grow your faith? Faith grows by spending time in the Bible. The more you get God’s Word into your life, the more your faith will grow.
Romans 10:17 NIV Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
You need to hear the Word, read the Word, and think about the Word of God on a daily basis. If you do, your faith will increase, your stress will decrease, and your life will begin to look a lot more like Jesus’.
Some of you are overloaded—physically, emotionally, or relationally. The demands of work, family schedules, or financial pressures are causing significant stress in your life.
Here’s what Jesus said about that;
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV [28] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. [29] 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. [30] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus summarizes the secret of stress management in three simple words—come, take, and learn. If you grab hold of these three solutions to stress, they’re going to change your life.
First Come to Jesus
When you’re feeling overloaded, the antidote to your stress is not a time management plan or a new philosophy. It’s a person—Jesus—and he says, “Come to me.” When life feels heavy, Jesus wants you to turn to him. And when you do, he fills you with rest.
The rest Jesus gives is a special kind of rest. It’s rest for your soul; it’s soul rest. Without it, you’ll be tempted to give up.
This spiritual rest is much deeper than physical rest. It’s the remedy for tension, fatigue, worry, fear, anxiety, guilt, and resentment. Only God can give you the inner peace you need to lower your stress. This doesn’t mean the stressors in your life will go away. They just won’t bother you as much because he is helping you carry them all.
So then why don’t we come to Jesus more often? Because we think we can handle stress on our own. Or we forget that God is waiting for us to call on him. Even if you’re a believer, your first choice when you’re stressed won’t always be to spend quiet time alone with God.
If you’re running on empty today, cry out to God. Spend time with him. You don’t need a program or a plan. You need a person. You need to come to Christ. “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.”
Second Give Up Control
This is so important because one reason you get overloaded is you’re trying to control too much. You think it all depends on you. You are not the general manager of the universe. You can resign, and it won’t fall apart. The greater your need to control, the more stress you’re going to have in life.
But Jesus offers a better way. That’s why it’s important to understand how a yoke works. A yoke is a wooden piece that teams up two animals, allowing them to share the load and make it lighter. The purpose is to make it easier on the animals, not harder.
A yoke is a symbol of partnership. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “I never meant for you to carry all your problems by yourself. Let me help you.” When you yoke up to Jesus, it’s not so you can share his load. It’s so he can share yours.
A yoke is also a symbol of control. Farmers yoke up animals so that they go in the same direction, at the same time, and at the same pace. When you’re not yoked to Jesus, you get into trouble. You end up going too fast, in the wrong direction, sidelined, or in a ditch. Yoked to Jesus, he keeps you from trouble.
Jesus knows exactly where to take you in life because he created you. He knows exactly the pace you should go because he shaped you. He knows your personality. He knows what you can handle and what you can’t handle.
We think the antidote to stress is to escape on vacation, attend a seminar, or go to therapy. Those things can certainly help, but true and lasting relief comes when we yoke up to Jesus and give up control. And every time we do, God gives us peace.
John 14:27 NIV Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Third Learn From Him
Jesus doesn’t say, “Learn from me. I’ll teach you endurance and stamina, confidence and courage, or time management and goal setting.” He says, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble.” He wants us to watch him and replicate what he did.
But learning from Jesus, following his example of gentleness and humility, doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that takes time. You must learn to reduce stress.
Two of the biggest causes of stress in your life are arrogance and aggression. These are the opposites of humility and gentleness.
Aggression happens when you do things too quickly. You don’t wait or think things over. You just jump right in with both feet and you get over-committed.
Arrogance happens when you try to control everything. Arrogance is thinking you know what’s best and everyone’s lives would be easier if they followed your plan.
The truth is when you try to do it all, have it all, be it all, and experience it all, you’re living with an aggressive and arrogant attitude. You’re acting like superman or superwoman. The antidote to aggression and arrogance is gentleness and humility—the kind of life Jesus modeled for us to live.
So how do you learn to be gentle and humble like Jesus? You do it by growing your faith. And when your faith grows, your stress goes down.
How do you grow your faith? Faith grows by spending time in the Bible. The more you get God’s Word into your life, the more your faith will grow.
Romans 10:17 NIV Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
You need to hear the Word, read the Word, and think about the Word of God on a daily basis. If you do, your faith will increase, your stress will decrease, and your life will begin to look a lot more like Jesus’.
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