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Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,

 and I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls.

- Matthew 11:28, 29 

Rest. It sounds good. It’s something we all need. It’s something Jesus knows we need. He offers rest to the weary and the carrier of heavy burdens. 

It’s up to us to take Him up on His offer. 

It’s hard to let go of something. It takes trust, trust that if we let go, He will make it happen. It may happen without us. He may work through us. It still takes trust that He can do it better than we can. (It’s tough to admit that sometimes we don’t let go because we think we can do it better – that’s not a very humble position. True humility is found in the willingness to let go.) 

It’s hard to let go. As long as we think about it, running it through our minds, trying to fix it or control it or chase it or manipulate it, we cannot rest. We worry. We are anxious. We get tied up. We can’t relax. We lack faith. 

He extends the offer for us to come to Him. Find rest in Him. Lay down our burdens and listen to Him. Be taught by Him. Be transformed in Him. 

We all need rest. I need rest. 

I will be taking the month of July to rest. 2 weeks of vacation. 2 weeks of sabbatical to rest, reflect, and let go. Read. Study. Absorb. Pray. Dream. Listen. Explore. 

Mainly, I want to spend time with Jesus and learn from Him how to rest in Him and let Him lead. I want to listen for His voice and be quiet enough to hear. 

There will some amazing people filling in for me on Sundays. I am excited that you will hear from different people how to follow Jesus in different ways.

I will let go, trust Jesus to lead during this time, let Him take care of people, provide for us, build His church. 

When I come back, I will continue to look to Him to shepherd us. 

My prayer is that each of you finds time to rest. Be still and know that He is God. He has you in His Hands. He is the provider. He is the teacher. He is the Good Shepherd who will lead you to green pastures. In Him, you will find rest for your soul. 

Rest.