His Yoke is Still Easy!

   We made it to Day 4 of the Hope in Christ 10-Year celebration. This week, I have been posting some of my very first blog posts and elaborating on them (10 years later). Today, I have once again added a screenshot of one of my favorites. 

   This post was inspired by one of my most loved scriptures: Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV), "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  

This scripture gripped me from the moment I first read it. During that time, I was walking through some heavy burdens. The Lord had delivered me from the yokes that had me captive for many years. However, there were still some other things that weighed me down. That is why He led me to that scripture. I needed to submit to the rest He was offering to my soul. Yes, he had called me to move in His purpose, but I would not find rest there. My rest needed to remain (always) in Him. I needed to continue drawing in relationship, spending time in His presence. 

As He ministered to me, He showed me an image of two large calves with a yoke around their necks. I did an internet search and found the one below.

According to the Strong's Concordance, a yoke is something that is used as any burden or bondage; servitude or imprisonment. These words have strong connotative meanings. They don't mean something just holds us back. No, they mean we can't be free of the yoke unless we have help to break us free. However, before we can break free, we must first recognize that we are still bound by something. 

Even after coming to Christ, we can still be in bondage to our past if we don't surrender all of it to Him. There are places that are hidden within our hearts that only the Lord knows about, so we have to do as David did. We have to say, "Create in me a clean heart, oh God." If we don't, as we move forward in purpose, those unrevealed, unhealed places can show up. We can be "yoked" by a fight for acknowledgement, striving to reach the next and then the next because we still deal with rejection, for example. 

 I remember when I first looked at the picture below. I immediately thought about how the yoke was used to control and guide the large animals in the direction of the person(s) who yoked them. This reminded me of how people and things could pull us in their direction, away from God. And guess what else, "Striving to fulfill purpose."

From the time God called me to launch the blog ministry and into the other elements where He has taken me, I began to run, attempting to implement everything He placed in my heart. But guess what? I had some hidden things I had not surrendered to Him. I would beat myself up trying to keep up, trying to make it a success. This led me to exhaustion, confusion, and burn out. 

One day, I said, "Lord, I'm exhausted. I don't want to chase and be yoked with trying to fulfill business and ministry instructions the way I think everything should be done. I want to "Take your yoke. Give me your yoke. Give me You." 

 Why did I ask for the yoke of Christ? Because He said it's easy. I believe it's described that way because it is there to give us that light "tug" when we are attempting to exchange His yoke for the one that bounds us. He also wants to "tug" us when we start to make it about us and not about Him. It's there as our guide, reminding us that He is with us, but it's His purpose and call, and we must remember that fact. Because He is using us to help others to know Him. 

Therefore, over the years, the LORD has helped me to remove the yokes of others and striving from me. It has always been meant to guide us in the right direction for our lives. The light tug of it is to get us to slow down, redirect our minds to follow Him, and to learn from Him as He leads the way, so that He may be glorified. 

That is why I still say, "His yoke is easy." He didn't change a decade later. He can still be trusted to lead the way. He has never disappointed me. Therefore, I ask you, "Have you taken His yoke?"

Try Him today. Freedom is in Him, not in the purpose He gave. In HIM. It is not bondage as those hidden things. So, we must draw near and surrender it all to Him, so that He can set us free. Purpose will never fulfill us. We are fulfilled in Christ. That's where the "rest" for our soul is found. I'm a living witness. There is so much freedom and peace there, in Christ alone. 

#Be Blessed! Walk in Wholeness and Hope in HIM!