Rest // 19 July 2026

Carol

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Good afternoon, everybody. It's great to be here again this afternoon. And you know, I have to say, when I received the topic of rest, I kind of thought, God, you have got a sense of humour. I really did. And I'm not sure what springs to mind when you think about rest. You know, is it uh, you know, an afternoon watching TV or a nice quiet walk or a lay down or a good night's sleep. You know, just a chance to do nothing. But there are two aspects to rest when we're looking at it from a godly perspective. So, first of all, you have rest, the commandment, the commandment that God said, the Sabbath rest, to look back at what he'd done. So God looked back and saw that what he'd done was good. And we're supposed to take a Sabbath rest and also praise and worship him. But there is also a daily rest, a daily rest when we're supposed to walk with Jesus, but rest with him. So not be worried about our burdens, but to truly trust him with every step that we take. And daily resting and weekly Sabbath, they're both great things to do. But they do serve two different functions in our lives. And during our daily rest, we we kind of keep going. We keep doing our work, we keep uh going to school, we keep uh whatever we're doing, we keep going. So it's an active rest. Whereas our Sabbath rest is not, it's a total stop in our life and a chance to just to reflect back on what God's got done for us, to celebrate what God's done and to refocus on Him. So there's two differences. First of all, how many times we do it? A daily rest is daily, seven days a week. But a Sabbath rest is once a week, on whichever day we choose to call Sabbath. For most of us that's Sunday, but if we work, maybe we take our Sabbath day a different day. And then there's a different action. So a daily rest is still doing, doing our daily activities, walking with God, sharing our life with Him. Whereas a Sabbath rest stops. We stop, we rest, we refocus. And they have two different purposes in our lives. So a daily rest relies on God's strength for our tasks to get through our day, to do the things He wants us to do. Whereas a Sabbath rest looks and celebrates what God has done, celebrates creation, celebrates the amazing world we live in, and celebrates Him. But today I really want to focus on our daily rest, our daily walk with Jesus. Now, my life has been a little bit like living on a roller coaster the last year. It's been up and down, and to be totally honest, there's been times when I've really struggled to rest, when I've been too anxious and really haven't trusted God. But there's been other times when I've been really strong on that, and I think our lives are like that, and there's always times when we don't quite get it right, you know, when God is challenging us and saying, come on, walk with me. You know, and I've had multiple difficult problems, and none of them have been in my control. I haven't been able to sort any one of them out in my own strengths. But I tell you what, they've taught me so much. They've taught me so much about rest and how crucial it is to our lives and how we don't rest, you're just messed up, and you really can't do everything you're supposed to. And I don't believe for one moment that God causes all the difficulties and problems in our lives, but you know, he certainly can use them to bring us to a different place, and we can learn and we can grow, we can grow in maturity when we go through the tough times because we learn to truly depend on him, resting in his peaceful care and knowing that he's looking after us, however hard things may be. You know, times in the valley can be really difficult, but they do help us to grow much closer to God. If you lived all of our lives on a mountaintop, it would just be way too easy. You know, and there's a 13th-century prayer, I'm sure that you all know it, where it says, I want to know you more clearly and love you more dearly. And through those hard times, God can bring us to that place. You know, and it's in those times that Jesus says, Come to me, because I've got the answer for you. Come to me. So in Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 to 30, it 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. 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. You know, I'm sure we can all relate to the word weary. That's physically, mentally drained, you know, when our problems just seem to go on forever and ever and they never seem to stop. And burdened means crushed, crushed with worry, with guilt, with responsibility, or maybe financial difficulties. And those happen so many times in our lives, don't they? But when we rest in Jesus, we find peace, we find security, and it's a good place to be because we're no longer striving. But the meaning of the yoke is actually really significant, and I don't know what springs to mind when you think of a yoke, but I always think of the two oxen yoked together, yeah, working in the field. But actually, that's not quite what Jesus is referring to. See, the Pharisees, they were really demanding. And their yoke that they put on the people of the time, they was just too demanding for the people. It wasn't right for them, it wasn't achievable. The people found it so, so difficult. It was an ill-fitting yoke. It didn't fit, it wasn't one crafted with care and expertise. You see, an expert Teasley crafted yoke would have fitted each person. It would have been easy, like Jesus' yoke. And on the field as well, the oxen were partnered with a perfect partner. So they always had one mature, experienced ox along with a novice, a young ox. And the idea was the mature ox would teach the young one. But of course, the young one had to go with the mature one, not go off on his own way, but actually be willing to submit to that one. But that symbol of yoke that Jesus is talking about extends into the Jewish law. Because you see, it relates to the rabbi's yoke. So each rabbi had their own unique halakha, which was um, it was like the rules and interpretations which people, which their students had to come under. So each rabbi would have his own way, his own lifestyle, his own worldview, his religious practices, and the student that would work with that rabbi would would like yoke him with that rabbi and have to follow those practices. And that's the yoke that Jesus is talking about. And Jesus says his yoke is light, it's not a burden, it's not restricting, it's perfectly fitting for each one of us and uniquely fitting. Jesus says, Come to him, take his yoke, walk with him daily. He will be gentle with us. Yeah, how wonderful is that! And what a great invitation, you know, to learn from the best teacher that ever lived on earth. And you see, I've been thinking about the yoke, and for me, I think it's like a real closeness. It's almost like a hug from Jesus. He's right beside us, and we're yoked in with him. That means we're walking right beside him, close in step, protected and secure in his arms, in a life that is burden-free when we choose to walk in step. And he will protect our souls, and our souls are extremely precious. You see, our souls are the only bit that is going to survive for eternity, and it's the bit that God is most, most cherished after, is what he wants so much to be well. And when we choose to walk with Jews at Jesus, when we yoke with him, he will look after our souls. And our physical bodies, they too, they too need rest. We need to sleep, we need to eat, we need to take good care of ourselves and not always hurry. You know, life is always full of hurry, isn't it? Hurry and worry. But actually, that's not what God wants. God wants us to have time to enjoy the world that He's created for us. But the thing I really like about that thought of walking with Jesus is it's quite active. So our daily rest is an active rest. And I'm a really active person. Yeah, I uh that's me. But actually, that I was thinking about that, and like, how amazing is it? We're not actually just supposed to walk with Jesus and do nothing. We're actually supposed to walk with him and learn and grow and just become more like him, but give him all the rubbish in our lives, all the things that pull us down, that wear us out, that tire us, the things that that God doesn't want us to be bothered about, that stop us from being the person that we can be. We can actively walk with God during our daily rest. You know, listening for the prompting of that Holy Spirit, what we should do, where we should go, and not be emburdened. See, Jesus never worried, he just totally trusted in his Father. But that's hard, isn't it? It's hard sometimes. But in Matthew chapter 6, verse 34, it says, Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. But I don't know about you, but often it's hard to let go, isn't it? Maybe we give something to Jesus and then we snatch it back the next minute. But that isn't what God wants for us. We're supposed to give our burdens and let Him carry them. Living a life yoked with Jesus because He is strong enough to take all of those. Yeah, my mum used to sing a song, uh, One Day at a Time. It's quite an old-fashioned song. But help me to take one day at a time. And really, that is what we need to do. One day, one day, because God says each day is different, every day is new, and he's got a new thing for us. But when things are not going well, that can be really, really hard. Daily resting in God, daily surrender, daily listening to Him, being at peace with what is going on, even when it's hard, even when you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. Resting, resting, and praying and depending on the Holy Spirit. You know, I'm so glad that nowadays it's quite acceptable to walk down the street chatting, isn't it? Because everyone just assumes you're on your phone. They don't think you're weird or anything, do you? You can just walk down the road chatting away and just be well, I have to admit I am one of those people. All right. But it's actually I'm not on my phone, I'm talking to God. Yeah. And it's a great time because what I do, um, I'm I'm stranger. I get up super early in the morning and I walk to the gym. And as I walk down the gym, all I hear are the birds singing and sometimes the sun rising. And it's my time to pray and to talk with God. And it takes me about 20 minutes to get down there, and I spend that whole time. And it takes me 20 minutes to get back again, and I spend that whole time, only there's more people around then. But I think they've all got used to me. But it is precious moments when I can listen and hear what God's got to say. Ask him for wisdom, ask him to help me because I need help to get through the days when, especially when they're difficult. Now, I wouldn't call myself a great evangelist at all. But I know there are people in this church that really are, but I don't believe I wouldn't have called myself that. And you know, God's heart is for more people to come to know his son. Imagine living your life without knowing Jesus. But many people do. Many people don't have that strength to rely on, you know, and that's what God wants for us. But the other day, somebody uh said to me, who doesn't know Jesus, you've been so strong in everything you've been through this last year. So strong. Should I have watched you and I've watched how you've coped day after day after day, when many other people would have crumbled. And she turned to me and said, I know it's your faith that's kept you going. You know, and through it, I have become so much closer to God. I know I've prayed so much more than I've ever prayed before. I've relied on scripture and the amount of Bible readings day after day that have spoken directly to my heart have been unbelievable. And I've connected with God throughout the day, relying on Him, because that's the only way to cope. You know, God can definitely use our trials for the good. And it was such a blessing that that person said that to me. And I do wonder how on earth I would have got through the last year if I hadn't known God. We don't want difficult times in our lives, do we? None of us do. But I actually don't regret going through it one little bit. In fact, the other day I thanked God that I did, and it's still not over. I'm hoping it will be over soon. Because, you know, this last year I am so close to Jesus. I am so close to God, and I love him more than I've ever loved him. Because I rest in him daily, and I've learned the value of that. So, what does God want us to remember today? What are we supposed to take home? Well, this was one of my Bible readings. But here is a powerful truth. God never intended for us to carry an ill-fitting load. Imagine placing a massive bucket of water on the shoulders of a three-year-old child. The child would instantly be crushed by the weight. It's an ill-fitting load, is far too heavy for their capacity and their size. When you carry the weight of worry, fear, and control, you're carrying an ill-fitting load. It crushes your spirit and exhausts your soul. The God who created the heavens and the earth is personally invested in you. He doesn't just tolerate your burdens, he invites them. Only he has the muscle and capacity to carry the anxieties of life. And you know that is so true. To be yoked in with him, yoked in, resting daily, and not hurry and worry our lives away. To be actively resting. And when we choose to do that has such an impact on others, like my friend, noticing, our actions are noticed by people around us. I think more as we're Christians than if we weren't, people do look at us. They want to know what makes us different. And the thing is, people search far and wide for what we have. They search far and wide for rest, for true rest, true rest, true purpose. And when our lives reflect that, we are great evangelists. Great evangelists for our amazing God. The question is, are we daily resting in God? Are we connecting? Are we trusting Him? Are we seeking after Him? And are we open to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Are we yoked in with Jesus or are we pulling off to do our own thing? Not walking in step? Are we ready to start each new day giving our burdens and our difficulties to Him? It's hard to imagine that one day we'll be free, free of anxiety, free of worry. But you know, while we're here, we can be if we choose to give them to somebody who's got the capacity to carry them. So let's leave here today and walk out side by side, yoked in with Jesus, giving him our worries, giving him our burdens, but learning from him in the process, and ready to step into each new day the same way, spending time connecting and spending time resting and listening. You know, the thing is the yoke that God's got for each one of us is different, but it's uniquely crafted by the master craftsman. So are we all yoked close enough? That's what God's saying today. Are we blessed be people that choose to walk in step with him with that big arm from Jesus around us?