A Light Burden

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

If I had to sum up my 2023 in one word, I would choose the word heavy. From start to finish, it was a tough year. I experienced what seemed like trial after trial, loss after loss, and trauma after trauma. And on top of the personal experiences, the world seemed to be in shambles - wars, hunger, and sickness seemed to become more widespread than ever. Not to mention, I live in Haiti, a country that is going through unprecedented levels of oppression and violence And it seems that the rest of the world has tuned out the cries for help from the Haitian people.

With all of these issues looming over me, I began to feel a growing pressure: a pressure to fix things, a pressure to make very major decisions very quickly, a pressure to do more, a pressure to do less, a pressure act, a pressure not to act, a pressure to lean more left, a pressure to lean more right, a pressure to be more productive, a pressure to slow down… and the list goes on. And while some of this pressure was coming from relationships and voices that were growing too loud in my life, I’ve come to realize I was also placing pressure on myself. I was being crushed under the weight of all these burdens.

I was in a place of despair and darkness for most of 2023. To be candid, I slipped into depression. I struggled as I fought against feelings of hopelessness, thoughts that I couldn’t get it right. But, God showed me the depths of His love and mercy last year. He was with me in the depths of my despair, and He made His presence known in ways I never would have expected. And while I’m not totally out of the woods, I’m realizing that wasn’t really the point of the trials I faced – God is with me in the dark. I don’t have to get out of the darkness to find Him; He’ll come and meet me where I’m at.

Matthew 11:28-30 are the verses I’m focusing on 2024. I want to learn the ways of Jesus, to bring the burdens I’m carrying to Him. I don’t want to carry the things that aren’t meant for me anymore; there’s no freedom in that. I’m learning to let go of the pressure, and to rest at His feet when life gets too heavy. The pressure that I was feeling wasn’t coming from Him, and many of the burdens I have been carrying were never intended for me.

As I write this post, I’m sitting in Haiti during one of the more intense bouts of political unrest I’ve seen sense moving here. The people of Haiti are tired – tired of senseless violence. Tired of the lack of resources and opportunity. Tired of being ignored. Tired of leaders who don’t care. Tired of an international community that is full of empty promises.

And as I sit with my tired, hurt, and angry Haitian friends, I’m remembering Matthew 11:28-30.

I’m giving Jesus the burden I feel for my friends here. With so many of their situations, I can’t offer solutions. I can’t fix the problem.

And hallelujah – those burdens weren’t meant for me, anyway. So I’ll allow the One who is Able to carry those burdens. He can carry the heavy load, and He can work miracles that I can’t even imagine for my friends.

Many of you reading this may not be in the same situations I am in. For some of you, your burden may be a terminal illness, grieving a loss, an interpersonal problem that you just can’t make sense of. Whatever your weariness is, go to Him and rest at His feet.

Learn from Him, take His yoke upon you, and allow Him to do the heavy-lifting. Sit with Him in prayer, and give whatever burden is weighing you down; He can handle it. Be weary no more.

Jesus, thank you for meeting us in the dark. Thank You for being strong when we feel weak. Thank You for carrying the loads that we cannot carry. Thank You for letting us rest.