Every Longing Heart
Saturday, December 13, 2025
Today’s Reading: Matthew 11:28-30
Life is loud. I think I covered that already. But let me also say, life is busy. I’m not sure we work any harder than previous generations; we’re just busy. And we’re tired, right? At least in our Western culture, we are tired, anxious, stressed, irritable, and burnt out.
God knew. He created us, so He knew we would need rhythms of rest. He decreed that we would have certain hours to rest each day and a day to rest each week. The year would cycle through seasons, and the years would lead up to a Shmita (7th year of rest). Creation must have balance. God ordained it.
There is another kind of tiredness for which sleep is not the answer. I hope I can trust you with some vulnerability here. I am tired. I mean, I am spiritually weary. I am not despairing, but I do rely on the Lord’s strength, because I just feel so weak. Swimming against the currents of the culture takes effort. Resisting the enemy's attacks requires strength. Participating in kingdom work means endurance. Intercession can drain a person. And what’s more, I often forget that I am not called to all this striving and hand-wringing on my own.
I need rest in Christ as much as I need rest from work.
We do not need to work for our salvation. We do not need to strive for qualification. We can’t prove ourselves deserving. Keeping the Law is impossible. We cannot do any of this on our own; that’s why Jesus came.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV)
I am tired because my controlling nature occasionally shifts back to my default perspective. I keep trying to do the work because I feel like control is safer than surrender. It’s not. The Christian who relies on his own strength will fail. It is only by the power of God that we can persevere.
“Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV)
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed… Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-9, 16 NIV)
“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” (Psalm 62:1-2 NIV
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26 NIV)
Are you as ready for rest as I am? Is your heart longing for Sabbath, too? As God provided a way for our bodies to rest from work, He provided a way for our souls to rest in Christ.