Matt. 11:28-30 – “[28] Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] 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. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Psalm 25:12-13 – “[12] What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. [13] His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.”
Isaiah 26:3 – “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
In this world that is filled with tribulation, there is nothing God’s children crave more than to feel rest in our souls, for our souls to dwell at ease, and to walk in perfect peace with our Lord. In these three verses, we find Christ’s formula to produce that peace and rest for our souls. While our lives might not necessarily be at rest, we can still have rest, ease, and peace in our souls in the midst of a chaotic world and life.
For those who are laboring and heavy laden, if you: 1) come unto Christ, 2) take Christ’s yoke upon you, 3) learn of Christ, 4) walk in the fear of God, 5) have your mind stayed on Christ, and 6) walk in faith and trust in Christ.
Then, God promises that: 1) you will find rest unto your soul, 2) God will teach you his way, 3) your soul will dwell at ease, 4) your seed shall inherit the earth, and 5) you will be kept in perfect peace.
God’s Formula for Rest For Your Soul
Come unto Christ. If we desire rest, ease, and peace in our souls, it will not be found in seeking the world, but in seeking and coming unto Christ. We come unto Christ and pursue him in our private devotions, in our Bible reading and study, in our prayer closet, in public worship, and in fellowship with saints. We have to be purposeful to seek and come unto Christ because this world will entice us to draw away from him and the kingdom. God has promised that if we seek Christ, we will be found of him (1 Chr. 28:9). We have to be diligent and purposeful to ask, seek, and knock in coming to Christ, and if we do, then fellowship with Christ will be given, found, and opened (Matt. 7:7-8). It is personal fellowship with Christ that eases the tensions and stress that this world inevitably puts on our soul.
Take Christ’s yoke upon you. It is an inevitable guarantee that we will have a yoke in this world. We will no doubt have burdens to bear and crosses to carry. If we carry the burdens of this world ourselves with our own strength, we will be crushed under that weight, and our souls will constantly be under stress, burden, and fear rather than rest. Therefore, every day, we have to make the purposeful decision to give our burden yoke to Christ and to take his yoke upon us. I try to have this mental image in my prayer time when I am very stressed and burdened. I try to mentally picture in prayer me taking my yoke off my neck and giving it to Jesus, and then me taking Christ’s easy and light yoke and putting upon myself. Having this mental picture in prayer of giving my burdens to Christ and taking his yoke upon me has helped me have more peace and rest in some very difficult times throughout the years.
Learn of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. If we are looking for our souls to be in perfect peace, we will only find greater knowledge of peace by learning more about the Prince of Peace and the God of all comfort. We learn more about Christ from his word, from reading and studying his word, from hearing his word preached, and from godly, edifying discussions of the scriptures with others. The more we learn about Christ, the more peace and rest we will have in our lives. Especially, the more we learn of Christ’s power and sovereignty, we know he is in control and sovereign over all the burdens that rob the peace of our souls. We rest more fully in Christ’s power over our tribulations by learning more about the character, substance, and power of Jesus Christ.
Walk in the fear of God. If we desire for our souls to be in peace and rest, then we cannot be tangled up and controlled by the fear of man, or the fear of the unknown, or the fears of many other things in this world. However, when we live in the fear of the Lord, when we make decisions with God’s smiling favor upon us as our primary motive, regardless of the opinions of men or fear of external consequences, then we can have peace in our souls regardless of the external factors. If we walk each day with a reverence and fear of the Lord as our primary deciding factor in our lives, come what may of joy or sorrow, be my portion pain or rest externally in our lives, then we will have a peace of conscience and soul knowing we are right with and obedient to the Lord, regardless of the popularity of the decision or external ripple effects.
Have your mind stayed on Christ. The best way to come to Christ, take his yoke, learn of him, and walk in fear of the Lord is to have your mind perpetually fixed on the Lord, to be constantly meditating on God and on his word. We are in a battle for our minds with this world and the devil every day. This world is constantly enticing us to have our minds drawn way from God, his kingdom, and his word. Satan wants to fill our minds with carnal pleasures and ungodly thoughts, and we have to be very purposeful to bring every thought into subjection to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). We have to filter out the filth of this world from our minds and be purposeful to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy (Phil. 4:8). We need to delight in God’s word and to meditate on the scriptures day and night, and if we do, then we will be abundantly fruitful and prosperous for the Lord (Ps. 1:1-3).
Walk in faith and trust in Christ. Nothing will rob and quench peace and rest in our souls faster than a fear of the unknown and fear of being overwhelmed in a certain circumstance. What is the remedy for that? We do not trust in ourselves, in our own wisdom, in our own might or strength. Rather, we trust Christ in faith and rest in his power, not in the frailty of our own weakness. When we walk each day trusting Christ rather than ourselves, it will ease the burdens and fears of our souls. Is it not better to rest our heads at night trusting in a God that is able to do exceeding, abundantly above, all we ask or think (Eph. 3:20), rather than trusting our own frailty that fades like the grass? Let us fully trust Christ in faith with the burdens and challenges of our lives, and it will certainly ease the fears and tensions of our soul.
God’s Promised Results
Now, if we follow these commands we have considered, these are the Bible promised results that the Lord will provide for his obedient children. I believe we all desire these results of rest, guidance, ease, inheritance, and perfect peace, and the Lord has promised these effects to those who are obedient to the commands we have discussed above.
Find rest unto your soul. If we follow God’s formula given to the laboring and heavy laden, God has promised a divine result of rest unto your souls. This rest for our souls is a direct result of taking Christ’s yoke upon you that is easy and light. This world lends us to busyness, fast pace, and exhaustion. However, walking in Christ’s yoke will provide rest and peace in our souls, instead of exhaustion. We might not have perfect rest in our lives. Actually, a restful soul in Christ most likely will have a very busy life in serving the Lord in the kingdom. However, that work is very easy and light when its in the service of our Great Master. This doesn’t mean that we sit around all day not doing anything. Actually, the true rest for our souls will be found in being very active and busy being about the Father’s business.
God will teach you his way. We all need guidance and direction from the Lord for the right pathway to walk in the Lord’s will for our life. If we are following the formula above, then we are certainly walking on the narrow way that leads to abundant life in the kingdom of God. However, we especially need the Lord’s providential guiding hand in discerning the right path in life-altering decisions in our life. I know from experience the burden of soul that comes from not having clarity about the way the Lord intends for you to go in your life. However, if we follow the formula above, God has promised to guide us providentially in teaching us his way, his providential individual pathway for just us to walk in our lives.
Soul will dwell at ease. It is a miserable thing for your soul to dwell in fear and tension and stress. How can our soul dwell at ease, even if the circumstances of life seem to be adverse or chaotic? Ease, rest, and peace in our souls will come from obedience to the formula above. That does not mean that our life will necessarily be at ease. Our external circumstances might still have tension or conflict, but if we are walking in the fear of the Lord, rather than the fear of man or any other debilitating worldly fear, then we can still have ease in our souls, even in the midst of external conflict and tension, if we are walking in obedience to the Lord.
Seed shall inherit the earth. For the child of God who is obedient to the formula above, God even promises legacy blessings upon future generations beyond our lifetime. God promises for the seed of the obedient child of God to be blessed to inherit the earth, to have abundant possessions and blessings in the kingdom of God. If we live each day with a rest, peace, and peace of soul, will it not make us better husbands, wives, and ultimately parents? If children see their parents exercise patience that comes from rest in our souls in their parenting styles, they will emulate that pattern in their lives and ultimately in their future parenting as well. If children see their parents dealing with challenging circumstances in this life in a God-honoring way and displaying a peace of soul in midst of external circumstances of chaos, then it will show them the value of a life centered and firmly planted in the kingdom of God that they also will desire to emulate and seek after.
Kept in perfect peace. Then, finally for God’s children that follow the pattern above, but especially those who have their mind stayed on Christ and trust him in faith, God promises for their souls to be in perfect peace. Again, that does not mean that there will be no tribulation, conflict, or tension in the external circumstances of our life. Rather, true obedience to Christ will inevitably create conflict with the world, the flesh and the devil. In the midst of the inevitable external conflict with this world, we can still dwell in perfect peace and rest with Christ in our souls, when we follow the pattern and formula he has given us here in his word.