According to a recent study, two-thirds of the workforce in America experiences workplace fatigue.[1] The National Safety Council (NSC) defines fatigue as “feelings of tiredness, sleepiness, reduced energy, and increased effort needed to perform tasks at a desired level.” Simply put, a lot of Americans are weary. Our weariness can stem from the obvious—a lack of sleep—or other factors like depression, stress, anxiety, burnout, or dissatisfaction with our work. This type of fatigue impacts our physical bodies and takes a toll on our emotional and spiritual lives.
Jesus was no stranger to weariness, and He understood the challenges of living in an environment that causes your body and mind to feel chronically fatigued. He said:
Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt. 11:28-30).
Notice how Jesus said, “Come to me. . . “ If we want to experience the rest Jesus is speaking of in this passage, we have to stay close to Jesus. Sometimes we get the idea that we can follow Jesus from a distance—and that’s a recipe for disaster. If we want to experience the sense of rest and well-being that Jesus spoke of our faith in Him must reach into the specifics of our lives. In other words, our faith has to go beyond the church pew and reach the pavement. That means we walk by faith—close to Jesus—and trust Him with the day-to-day and minute-by-minute challenges we face.
In Jesus’ day, Jewish people grew weary under the heavy load of expectations imposed on them by the Pharisees. In today’s culture, we struggle with overbooked schedules, family issues, financial problems, health challenges, grief, addictions, work stressors, the hamster wheel of materialism, and the challenges of everyday living. Jesus warned that we would have troubles (John 16:33), but He invites us to a different way of living.
In an agricultural society, everyone understood a yoke went across the necks of two farm animals and connected them to the plow they were to pull.[2] A yoke didn’t eliminate the burden, but it made the weight limit appropriate for the animals’ abilities. In the same way, all Christ-follower will carry burdens, but we aren’t called to carry a load that is too heavy for us. Jesus invites us to trust Him with our troubles, and He promises rest for our souls when we do. But doing so demands that we walk by faith—staying near Jesus—putting one foot in front of the other.
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[1] https://ergonomictrends.com/workplace-fatigue statistics/#:~:text=1.More%20than%2069%25%20of%20workers%20feel%20fatigued%20at%20work,are%20affected%20by%20occupational%20fatigue.
[2] Stuart K. Weber, Holman New Testament Commentary: Matthew, ed. Max Anders (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2000), 169.
