“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’.” Matthew 11:28
In Samuel 28 and 29, we see that David had grown so weary from the long struggle he had endured being chased by King Saul, that he found himself in the last place on earth he would have ever imagined. He had sought shelter and comfort with the very enemy of his people, the Philistines. Goliath was a Philistine and God had helped David defeat him years earlier, and these same Philistines had been oppressing and waging war with Israel for decades, yet David found himself living among them. And now, as the Philistines were about to wage war, yet again, with Israel, David lined up with them to fight against his very own people. Father wounds from the rejection of his father, Jesse, and father figure, Saul, had left a gaping hole in David’s heart that desperately wanted to be filled. In his quest for acceptance, he sought the affirmation of the enemy. Had it not been for God’s intervention, David could have very easily shipwrecked his destiny.
John the Baptist felt the effects of a weary heart as he found himself wasting away in prison, and his wondering led him to question if Jesus was actually the Messiah at all.
What do we do when life’s circumstances leave us weary? The answer isn’t found in our enemy and the things of this world, and it sure isn’t found in doubting or questioning our faith. No, the answer is only found in Jesus Himself.
There will be times and days when life’s disappointments will try their best to overshadow us and cause our hearts to grow weary. But it is especially in those moments that we must seek Him, trust Him and cling to Him, even when disappointments leave us with no answers. We must keep on believing that while the devil is good at being a bad devil, our Heavenly Father is great at being an awesome God!
Today, let us remember that when circumstances try to make us weary, it is in Jesus, and He alone, that we can find true rest.