My Burden is Light

Matthew 11:28-30

 28 ¶^aCome unto me, all ye that ^blabour and are heavy laden, and I will give you ^crest.

 29 Take my ^ayoke upon you, and ^blearn of me; for I am ^cmeek and ^dlowly in ^eheart: and ye shall find ^frest unto your souls.

 30 For my yoke is ^aeasy, and my burden is light.

 This scripture has been on my mind lately. Mostly the part where He tells me His yoke is easy. And I ponder on why I feel so overwhelmed at times. If I honestly feel like I am working to fulfill righteous callings, (and I do), then why are some moments so heavy? These are the times I need to change my focus and remember what the other verses tell me.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

I tend to see, and take account of the labor part of my life way too much. So of course it begins to be a huge weight over me! Motherhood, family relationships, personal study and righteousness, homeschool, housekeeping, callings in church, all together it can be a frightening load. They are good, they are necessary, but they are not the first thing. The first thing is to go to my Savior. By accepting His invitation, "Come unto me", everything else will fall into it's proper place. The "rest" that He offers will come, through peace of mind if not by physical stillness. 

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek

 and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

   Again, it asks - turn to the Lord. Follow Him, learn humility from Him. His life was filled with ordinary, but lived in such a way to turn it all into miraculous. Faith, love, patience, endurance, joy. I'm tired from laundry and dishes, cooking, cleaning, ending sibling arguments over and over again, years of interrupted sleep, and time that just isn't enough. Yet there are moments when I am in the right spot. When the day feels like service instead of labor, when every small and often repeated effort is an outpouring of love. Love for my family, love for my Savior. All that love is really very energizing and refreshing.

"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light"

Why do I feel so overwhelmed at times? ... It's been good for me to consider and ponder these scriptures. My daily activities and responsibilities don't really change. That housework and mothering just have to be done. But when I change focus to my Savior, the beauty and joy in every task can be found. And some things that I thought were important turn out to not be. Turning our hearts to the Savior may not change our physical environment, but it can certainly change us. Make us stronger, give us the wisdom and understanding we need, bring peace and rest to our souls that we never thought possible. A General Conference talk by Elder Cook wraps this up nicely:

"We earnestly hope and pray for universal peace, but it is as individuals and families that we achieve the kind of peace that is the promised reward of righteousness. This peace is a promised gift of the Savior’s mission and atoning sacrifice.

This principle is succinctly captured in the Doctrine and Covenants: “But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.”¹⁴

President John Taylor taught that peace is not only desirable, but “it is the gift of God.”¹⁵

The peace to which I am referring is not just a temporary tranquility. It is an abiding deep happiness and spiritual contentment.¹⁶

President Heber J. Grant described the Savior’s peace this way: “His peace will ease our suffering, bind up our broken hearts, blot out our hates, engender in our breasts a love of fellow men that will suffuse our souls with calm and happiness.”"