Come. Take. Learn.

Bass fishing on the Chain O Lakes

Big bass

Beautiful lakes

Smart fish

Cast further

Cast more precise

Change bait

Change location

Change time

Try harder and harder and harder

The time fishing felt good until I got done and realized I had produced nothing

Talked to some other people who fished there and got some advise

Then I had to worry less about casting further

Casting more accurate

And all the things I had randomly tried

I took my concerns to someone who understood the situation and they gave me the information I needed to catch fish.

Part of the problem with situationsh like this ius that in the moment it feels good to just keep trying

That trying and doing seems productive

But all of my trying and doing could not get fish in the boat

I needed to have the correct understanding and couple that with my doing and then there were fish in the boat.

Having something “to do” may feel good when a person is stuck and the problems seem overwhelming. But there are few times when we have the ability and resources to truly fix our troubles. Trying harder never solves everything.

Eventually we need to explore what wise actions are helpful and appropriate. But something more fundamental comes first.

Where should we turn first, before we act

Matthew 11:28–30 KJV 1900

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Initially, this might seem an odd place to go. It offers no obvious path to “solving” anything.

The idea that we should stop and consider this invitation from Jesus might seem passive, even unhelpful.

But it is very active: “Come. Take. Learn.”

We need to understand the relevance of what Jesus is teaching in these verses.

Come unto me…acknoledge your insufficiency and His sufficiency

Recognise how personal this invitation is...

Jesus is speaking to us here....

He is asking you to describing your experience?

Where do you feel weary and burdened?

If he is asking you to put into words to your experience, is there any reason we should think He will not respond to you personally?

These initial words are an invitation, whats your reaction to His invitation?

Faith

Do you step out in self-sufficiency

Apathy

Maybe your gut reaction is, “That’s nice, but…”

Maybe Jesus seem irrelevant to your struggle?

Maybe talking about Jesus at all seem like we are missing the point or wasting time?

Perhaps you are angry.

Maybe you want to put up a wall.

You’re angry because you have pleaded with him to remove your problem and his response seems to be silence?

Perhaps you feel afraid that bringing Jesus into your struggle will mean feeling more burdened.

Maybe he will command you to do impossible things?

Maybe coming into his presence means encountering his disappointment, anger, or disgust with you?

Jesus not only invites you to Himself He invites you to rest...

Mark 6:31 KJV 1900

And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

Relief that comes by our own efforts or with a change in our circumstances is limited. Only Jesus has the power to give lasting rest— rest to our souls. This is the rest we ultimately long to have and the rest he longs to give to us.

Jesus calls you to learn from him.

John 13:15 KJV 1900

For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Mary and Martha…Mary chose the better

This means he has things to teach you that will help you. This is good news. Jesus delights in sharing these good things with us.

Jesus invites you to take up his yoke.

1 John 5:3 KJV 1900

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

If this sounds like another burden, remember that Jesus started the conversation by acknowledging that you are already weary and burdened. You’ve already been wearing the hard yoke and carrying heavy burdens. His yoke is different.

Here’s the takeaway.

Let’s look for small but significant ways in which you can come to him, rest in him, and learn from him this week.

It may not seem like that will solve all your problems. And it may not. But resting in Christ is always the starting point. Part of what Jesus will teach you are the appropriate and helpful action steps for a problem.

But you need him first.

489- All Your Anxiety