Are you weary? Overburdened? Feel you can't cope? Jesus invites you to come to Him. He promises to give you rest. It's a refreshing rest. The word "rest" Jesus uses is translated "refresh" in other passages.
But Jesus doesn't give you rest by taking away your burdens and all the work you have to do. Instead He asks you to take on another yoke. Really? Yes, but this time it is His yoke. He yokes Himself to you and amazingly takes most of the burden upon Himself. I read about an old farmer using oxen to plough his fields. However, this pair of oxen were most unusual--one was big and one small. How could they possibly function when the yoke was so uneven? It was all to do with how the traces were hooked to the yoke in order for the large bullock to pull the weight for the little bullock that was being trained. In fact, the little one hardly pulled any weight at all as the big bullock took the strain
This is what happens when we take Jesus' yoke. We still have to face our challenges and difficulties but He takes the burden. He refreshes us even in the midst of all our overwhelmingness. He knows you can't pull the weight yourself. When two oxen are yoked together, they can do what is impossible for one ox to do.
Of course, you'll have to give up your pride and self-sufficiency. When you take Jesus' yoke, you are yoked to One who is "gentle and humble in heart." You won't fit too well if you are proud and stubborn and pull off in your own direction.
And when you take His yoke, He teaches you at the same time. He shows you how to do it His way, rather than your way. He not only invites you to come, but to come and LEARN. Little by little He changes you to be more and more like Him as you submit to Him. He leads you into a deeper rest, a rest in the very depths of your soul.
Dear mother, you don't have to stay in your stressed state. Jesus waits for you to COME. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. "And His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).
Blessings from Nancy Campbell