Come to Me

“Come to Me”

Are you weary and burdened from the day to day of this life? The speed of going, the compounding nature of doing from the lists that seem never ending. 

 

Are you weary from falling short of expectations? Perhaps the expectations of others, the “shoulds” that swirl through your mind? Perhaps the expectations of self; goals, dreams, striving and perfection.

 

Are you burdened from carrying what is not yours to carry? Are you weighed down by emotions, past or current hurts, bitterness or worry? Are you burdened because you have been let down by others?

 

“Come to me,” Jesus said in Matthew 11:28. “Come to me, all who are weary and heavily burdened.” 

 

When I was studying this verse I felt the Lord speaking to my heart. He gave me the picture of a father with his toddler who was learning to walk.

 

“Come, come on, come to me.” the dad said to his small child with a grin on his face.

The father waved the child on. “You can do it. Just come.”

 

The picture panned to the child. The child slowly, with wobbly legs, let go of the coffee table. He lifted his tiny foot. There. One foot. And then…wobble, wobble, fall.

 

The tiny child whimpered and pursed his bottom lip outward. 

 

The father chuckled. He reached out his hand to the small teary eyed toddler. The father lifted him up and stood him on both feet.

 

And with a smile of sheer joy on his face, the father once again said, “Come. Come to me. Come to daddy. You can do it. Come.”

 

The little boy’s confidence grew as he heard the encouragement of his father. A smile shown across his sweet slabbery face. And off he went. One step, two steps, three steps…wobble, wobble, fall. 

 

Again the father chuckled, and reached out his hand to help the boy up.

 

This time, the small boy pulled himself back up, smiling as he went. 

 

The confidence of the Father encouraged him. And once again the father said, “Come. You can do it. Come to me.”

 

This picture of a toddler learning to walk, is like us as we grow in our walk with Jesus. 

 

We hear him calling us to himself. “Come, come to me,” he says. 

 

We toddle, wobble, and fall over and over again.

 

And our Abba Father chuckles with joy. 

 

Our Abba is not concerned with how many times we fall. He doesn’t get annoyed with our hesitancy to let go of the coffee table. He isn’t frustrated at our tears when we fall. 

 

He is always there with his hand out ready to lift us back up. Ready to encourage us. A faithful, patient, kind, joyful loving Father.

 

God cares more about our desire for Him – our response to his beckoning call to “come”, than he does about our falls. He knows falling is a part of learning to let go and trust him.

 

God focuses on our pursuit of him, our desire to “come” to him. And when we fall, if we lift up our eyes and put them on him the confidence he has for us will shine through his eyes. We can reach out and grab his hand to find rest.

 

“Come to me all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

 

After a series of tries, of falls, of tears, some laughter and do-overs, the toddler takes his wobbly steps across the way and reaches his father. The tiny boy falls into his fathers arms. The father wraps the boy in his arms, enveloped with love.

 

The two rejoice in celebration! “Well done, my boy!” the father says. “Well done.”

 

For a toddler learning to walk the journey across the living room feels like a marathon. Our journey toward God can also feel like a marathon full of hills and mountains and valleys. But the thing that keeps us going is the still small voice from our Abba Father that says, “come to me and I will give you rest.” 

 

Find rest today, weary soul, in the loving arms of your Heavenly Father. You don’t need to read the right passage, or sing the right song, give the right thing, or do the right ritual. All you need to do to experience rest for your weary soul is to simply “come”. 

 

Will you respond to Jesus’ call to you to come to him? Will you lay aside your striving and doing for being with Him? 

 

Will you meditate upon the fact that he’s not looking for perfection – he just wants YOU as you are with your banged up knees, bruises and scars? Do you hear him calling to you, “come to me?”

 

For more on Matthew 11:28 go to Cup of Hope.

 

For more hope, help and resources to face life’s storms go to http://www.stephanie.callkayla.com/blog