Jesus said,

Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you (the path I’ve chosen to walk with you), and learn to know me in my gentleness in Spirit toward all with me and my humility before Abba, Father. You will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Paraphrase of Matt. 11:28-30

Awaking this morning to Julia’s acute need for relief from heart-racing breathlessness, coughing and nausea (and myself with mild vertigo and gut distress), I wondered about Jesus’ promised “light burden” and “easy” yoke – as I cried out to God for grace to meet the need of the moment.

And then He helped me to recall another Scripture and my heart was quieted. He reminded me of 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, 16-18.

I was strengthened by two wonderful truths found there. First, in whatever the moment holds, God is moving within us and about us to carry us through, shining in our heart the light of Christ’s presence, and secondly, ultimately this path of His choosing for us is “light,” because it is ALWAYS a doorway into eternal glory and “easy,” because His guaranteed future is a gift that keeps coming.

“Light,” because it’s ALWAYS a doorway into eternal glory and “easy,” because His guaranteed future is a gift that keeps coming.

Nothing, absolutely nothing we experience in following Him is meaningless! The weight of that glory is “light” — as light as light is without darkness, as light as life filled with joy and holy fulfillment of our deepest desires. This present path does not feel easy today, but it’s only the beginning of a path that stretches into an eternity free of every kind of darkness and filled with every blessing. Psalm 84…

Psalm 84:5-7 (The Message), “And how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel; They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain! God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!”

As Matt Redman sings, it will get easier and someday when we all get to heaven, rejoicing will replace the groaning. Matt Redman – One Day (When We All Get To Heaven)

The song in my heart today is one my brothers Don and Darrel, already in glory, used to sing with great gusto and abandonment (It’s Jesus Coming For Me | 1975):

I know for certain a moment ago, I heard a choir sing. / My heart’s as light as a bird on a wing. / Did I hear a trumpet sing?

What’s that light in the eastern sky? / Looks like a cloud of fire. / It’s getting brighter, the closer it comes / Now it’s as bright as the sun!

It’s Jesus, He’s coming for me! / It’s Jesus, He’s coming for me! / No more tears. No more pain. / Through endless days, I’ll praise His name.

He said He’d come like a thief in the night / To take His children home. / He is the way, the truth and the life. / When He appears I’ll  be gone!

What’s that light in the eastern sky? / Looks like a cloud of fire. / It’s getting brighter, the closer it comes / Now it’s as bright as the sun!

It’s Jesus, He’s coming for me! / It’s Jesus, He’s coming for me! / No more tears. No more pain. / Through endless days, I’ll praise His name.

It’s Jesus!

Author unknown

Additional Inspiration for moments like these…

• Yoked by Christ – David Ewert
• Almost Home – Matt Papa & Matt Boswell
• What About Core Weariness? – David Ewert
• His Strength Is Perfect – Steven Curtis Chapman
• Good God Almighty – Crowder
• God is Good All the Time – Julia Ewert