It’s Easy

It was September, 2016 and I was asked to give a short devotion for our Christian Women in Media Conference call. As I prayed about what to say, I kept hearing the verse from Matthew 11:30:  “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I prayed for confirmation while driving in my car. When I got into work, the first thing I saw was a button on a co-worker’s desk that had the word “Easy” written on it. I pressed it and a voice said, “That was easy.” I thought, Of all days for that to be on her desk. Then on my way home from work, I turned on the radio and heard singer Chris Tomlin quoting Matthew 11:30, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” I realized this must be the message God wanted the women to hear. Because it was…EASY.

It’s taken a number of years for me to understand what this passage really means. To get the full context, we need to go back to verse 28 when Jesus 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, for 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.”

Is anyone needing rest?

I am guessing that applies to just about every male or female with a “Type A” personality. We are used to getting it done, and in order to fulfill our mission, we sometimes work 24/7 to make it happen. That can lead to health problems, sleep deprivation, and a final product that is less than perfect.

Are any of you overwhelmed?

We used to send out all sorts of speaking flyers for Pearls of Promise, call churches to let them know I’m available to speak, and I’d get upset when people would not respond, but what I found is that I was expending a lot of unnecessary energy. The speaking engagements I did receive were through people God put in front of me.

So easy.

The books I’ve written are the ones that just worked out. In fact, God has flipped the order of what I thought I was supposed to write.

The radio show I co-host with Donna Skell, A Time to Dream, was placed in my lap after the Lord began to woo me back to the media after a 19-year hiatus.

“His yoke is easy and his burden is light.”

In John 5:19 Jesus said he only does what he sees his Father doing, and I believe that’s the way it should work for us, to only do what our Heavenly Father tells us to do.

What we have to learn is when we place our lives in God’s hands, he will open the doors we are to walk through. He will provide  what we need. In my case, he will present the opportunities in media, the divine appointments, the words I need for the blogs and the books and the messages he’s called me to.

It’s easy.

But when we push, we go the way we think we’re supposed to go, and force a door open, all it does is make us tired. God may still bless the event or the project, but the work seems to be a burden in the end.

So today, the Lord wants me to encourage you to abide and rest in him. When he opens up a door, then it’s okay to work really hard, but if the timing’s not right, it seems like you are forcing things, and there are numerous roadblocks in the way, there is a reason for it. Trust God even when the calendar doesn’t have much on it. When it’s time to make a move, it’ll be easy. (LBW)