Life

Living Light: Rested Souls in a Burdened World

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December 6, 2025

On December 6, 2025

How do you do it?—this is a question I frequently receive being a wife, mom of four boys (includes breastfeeding twin 1-year olds), an HR leader, daughter, sister, friend. I realize I really haven’t had a consistent answer, but they revolve around:

I don’t know how, I just do. 😅
Something’s gotta give. So I say a lot of no’s (not this season, maybe a few years from now).
God’s grace is available in various forms—and it’s actually only through this that everything (that’s top priority) works.
How do I do it? Sometimes I don’t. I also break at times. Rest is crucial.

I was chatting with a friend who sometimes wished that following Jesus meant fewer responsibilities or less complexity. I guess to some degree I have thought of that too. But will responsibilities actually diminish? Because as we remain faithful over little, we are entrusted with more. So I guess the only way to have diminishing responsibility is to be an irresponsible, unfaithful steward. Obviously, that’s not what we want, is it?

I think many of us sometimes equate rest with having less to carry. The other day as I was sipping an extra hot cup of peppermint mocha, I took the thought to God’s Word—a very familiar verse for those of us who have felt tired and stretched at least once in our Christian walk.

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.

Matthew 11:28–30

Jesus didn’t say, “Come, and I will remove all your burdens.” The promise is not a life without weight, decisions or responsibilities. The invitation is to exchange yokes.

Living with Jesus is not a yoke- and burden-free life. It is living with rested souls while carrying Jesus’ easy yoke and light burden. And it’s something we can learn as we enter into His invitation to be yoked with Him—carrying what He gives, in the way He gives it, and carrying it with Him and not on our own.

Rest doesn’t come from less to do, but from Who we’re with

A yoke pairs two animals together so the weight is shared. In Jesus’ invitation, He and I are yoked side by side. The weight I carry is not of my own, and is not mine alone to bear.

But there are times we still find ourselves trying to drag life’s weight by ourselves. And as long as we carry burdens we were never meant to hold, our souls will stay tired even when life is “slowing down.”

A rested soul while still carrying a burden

Following Jesus isn’t about escaping responsibility, but living a rested soul while carrying a God-assigned burden. Our lives may not get simpler, our roles may not get smaller, our responsibilities may not diminish. But our soul can be at rest in the middle of it all.

Learning the pace of Jesus

In The Message version, the same passage expresses what Jesus was saying as, “I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.”

This version belabors the point—living with Jesus is not about sitting pretty in a corner and just allowing life to pass by, it is with walking and with working and the same time with real rest and grace.

I take comfort that this is learned, and that rest is: not something forced, has a rhythm (not a schedule), and is of grace (not based on what we deserve).

When we find ourselves dragged by hurry, fear, pressure, or expectation, it’s a a reminder to fix our eyes on Jesus, to walk with Him and work with Him—to choose His pace, His priorities, and His presence.

May we say yes to Jesus’ invitation to live life with Him, enjoying His easy yoke and light burden—enjoying His presence as we allow Him to walk our lives with us. I pray that today, Jesus helps us understand more deeply how being yoked with Him is the most liberating decision we can make daily.