Aura Pérez de Rodríguez
Cuba
Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
A few years back I heard the story of a poor woman that was walking by the side of the road with a basket full of clothes on her head; it was midday and the heat was sweltering. Even so, she was still walking. A man driving on the road saw her and offered to give her a ride and the woman gladly accepted. She got in the car and sat down beside him. After traveling for a long while, the man looked at her through the rearview mirror. The woman still had the basket on her head. He said, “Ma’am, you can lay your basket of clothes on the seat, you don’t have to carry it on your head; the truck is carrying you and the basket.”
In these times of full schedules and busy lifestyles, a bit of rest can be all you need. At times this may sound difficult, considering all the responsibilities of married life—taking children to school without forgetting their homework, taking your grandmother to the doctor’s office without forgetting to tell her to take her medication at the right time, answering phone calls, walking the dog, trying to get to church on time, holding a women’s Bible study and then a discipleship group. We are the last to turn off the lights at home and no one seems to notice, much less care.
Sometimes we think that taking a break is wasting time. Maybe that is why we end up very tired. The Greek word for rest is anapauo. Ana means “up” and pauo means “make end.” Resting is not only sleeping enough, but rather we need to be “resting” our soul from emotional disturbances. “Ending” something means to stop doing something, going in another direction.
As a pastor’s wife, we must adapt to the processes; bite the dust, fall, get back up, cry, feel heart broken, laugh, scream loud, get enraged, and also calm down. We must learn and relearn, go through situations where we grow mentally and become full of fear and insecurity. I believe we need to be filled with courage, lay down our burden and allow the Lord to have complete control over us.
In my experience, I have learned that I must turn to the Lord every day so that I may feed on His Word. I discovered I was carrying my burdens on my own even though I had help nearby.
What is your burden? Loneliness, sadness, abuse, low self-esteem? Whatever it may be, lay it down; God is stronger than you; He can definitely carry it and will do so happily, just to see you rest. Psalm 55:22: “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”