"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."- Mathew 11:28-30 NIV
A Letter of Encouragement for Disciples of Jesus
Dear friend and follower of Jesus,
You were not created to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders—you were made to rest in Jesus. To lay down your burdens. To stop. To breathe. To trust.
You were not made to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You were made to rest in Him. To exhale. To lay down your burdens. To breathe.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Jesus, Matthew 11:28
These are not the words of a distant authority giving you permission to pause. They are the gentle invitation of a Shepherd who sees your exhaustion and offers Himself as your peace.
Corrie Ten Boom once said:
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”
To rest in Jesus is not to withdraw from life—it is to step into it from a place of security. It’s not about escape; it’s about anchoring your soul in the presence of the One who never wearies. Rest is not laziness or indifference—it’s trust. Deep trust that He is enough, even when you feel you are not.
Resting in Jesus is choosing to believe that your limits are not liabilities—they are invitations. They remind you that you are not the Savior. You are the beloved.
Eugene Peterson paraphrases it this way:
"Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace."
Rest is not weakness. It is worship. It is the soul’s declaration: Jesus is enough—even when I am not.
Rest is not resignation. It is realignment. A holy returning to the truth that your value is not in your productivity, but in your belovedness.
C.H. Spurgeon once said:
"Rest time is not waste time. It is economy to gather fresh strength... It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less."
To rest in Jesus is to lay down the lie that it all depends on you.
It’s releasing the pressure to be impressive.
It’s sitting down in the presence of the One who says, “It is finished.”
Rest does not mean disengagement from life—but engagement with God.
It is not about numbing your stress—it’s about letting Jesus carry it.
To rest is to trust: He is working even when you are not.
Henri Nouwen reminds us:
“The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it.”
You don’t rest by disengaging from life—you rest by engaging with Him in the midst of it. Rest is not found in a perfect schedule or a quiet room. Rest is found in the Person of Jesus.
He is the calm in your storm.
The stillness in your chaos.
The anchor in your uncertainty.
To rest is to stop striving to prove, perform, or produce—and to let yourself be held. It is to fall into grace like a weary child into loving arms.
"We are not what we do. We are not what we have. We are not what others say about us. We are the beloved of God."
Rest is a radical act in a world that celebrates hustle. It is resistance to the constant demand for more. It is an act of faith that says:
God will meet me in stillness. He will speak in quiet. He will sustain me through surrender.
The Psalmist declares:
“Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother.” – Psalm 131:2
This is not childish restlessness—it is childlike rest.
The kind that leans into the arms of the Father without needing to prove or perform.
You don’t need to be fixed to find rest. You just need to come.
Weary? Come.
Burned out? Come.
Tired of trying to be enough? Come.
He will not turn you away. His rest is not a reward for the strong—it’s a gift for the weary.
Dane Ortlund writes:
"Jesus doesn’t meet us halfway. He comes all the way down into our pain, our fatigue, our failure. And there, He rests with us, and gives us His rest in return."
This is the astonishing beauty of grace: Jesus does not wait for you to get it together. He does not require that you climb halfway up the mountain of your mess before He agrees to draw near. No—He descends, fully and freely, into your lowest place.
Into the tired corners of your heart.
Into the ache you hide.
Into the weariness no one else sees.
He then enters our weariness—not as a spectator, but as a companion.
He rests with us.
In your burnout, He is not impatient.
In your sorrow, He is not indifferent.
In your failure, He does not flinch.
Instead, He draws close. He carries what you can’t. And in the sacred quiet of that closeness, He gives you what you were never meant to earn—His own rest.
He doesn’t just offer rest from afar—He becomes your rest from within.
He does not ask you to rise before He gives you rest. He gives rest so that you can rise.
Let this comfort you today:
Jesus is not asking you to meet Him halfway.
He is already here.
With you.
For you.
Resting beside you.
And offering His peace—right now.
A.J. Swoboda reminds us:
“Sabbath is a scheduled weekly reminder that we are not what we do; rather, we are who we are loved by.”
Friend, you are not just invited to work for Jesus—you are invited to rest in Him. You don’t earn rest. You receive it. You don’t have to deserve it. You simply accept the gift.
Rest is the space where your soul can finally catch up with your body.
Where silence becomes sacred.
Where your mind slows enough to hear His whisper again.
To rest in Jesus is to lay down anxiety and take up peace.
To surrender control and receive comfort.
To trust that He is enough for today—and tomorrow, too.
So today…
Pause.
Unclench your fists.
Turn off the noise.
Let your soul exhale.
Let His presence be your pillow.
You are not behind.
You are not alone.
You are not failing.
You are held.
His rest is not a place you earn—it is a Person who invites.
He is your Sabbath.
He is your peace.
He is your enough.
So pause.
Sit with Him.
Let the worries settle.
Let your soul lean back into grace.
Christ in you, the Prince of Peace.
You in Christ, safe and still.
This is the invitation. This is the way.
Rest in Him.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. - Mathew 11:28-30
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7
In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves. - Psalm 127:2
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. - Isaiah 26:3
Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. - Psalm 55:22
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. - Proverbs 14:30
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. - Psalm 4:8
I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. - Jeremiah 31:25
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will sour on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:31
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” - Mark 6:31
Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. - Psalm 62:1
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. - Psalm 91:1
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. - Psalm 62:5
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. - Psalm 23:1-3
Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” - Exodus 33:12-14
Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed. - Exodus 23:12
Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, not your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. - Deuteronomy 5:12-14
If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord. - Isaiah 58:13-14
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. - Hebrews 4:9-11