September 17

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. 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. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly”. Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)

You may be in a season in your life where you so long to get away—to escape the day-to-day pressures that want to overwhelm, or even more so to take a much needed reprieve from on-going and unrelenting pain. Maybe feeling hemmed in on all sides with things just not working as you hoped; problems too many to count, worries piled high, and no visible way out.
 
Listen though, dear one, in the midst of it all, to the life-filled words above from your Beloved Jesus, as He invites you to leave it all behind—to step through the door of His heart into the very substance of peace and rest. You can lean into and rely on the sound of His voice as He speaks to you of better things. You can learn with Him a better way, for He is the Way!
 
This is an invitation and divine opportunity to live freely and lightly as you join your life to His. Even now you can take all that is wearing you out and weighing you down, and entrust it all to Him. Then slip your hand in His—He has it all secured—and walk together in His strong and steady love. See the beauty of the Eternal One, the majesty and the mystery. See afresh, from His perspective, and discover how He sees the worries and the wondering, the waiting and the weight. See how light they are, how manageable, with solutions at the ready. Taken care of completely in His forever plan. Then see Him stepping in and transforming it all for you, because, beloved one, that’s what Love will do.
 
In Christ there is a better way; and in His presence; a perfect place to get away. Follow His leading to the fullness of life; rest and abide in the substance of Who He is and all He has for you. Trust in what He has purposefully planned for you and for those you are carrying close to your heart too. He won’t forget you, beauty. You are in His heart always. He has every tiny detail firmly in His grip of grace. And He most certainly, without question, has you.

Prayer:
 
Help me to rest and abide, dear Lord, in the grip of Your grace today. There is no place I would rather be, no place better to be, today, and every day, than cradled in Your care, dwelling in the place that Love has carved out for me.
 
I am Yours Lord, in every way, and in You, I am cared for, cared about, and free!
 
With a grateful heart, I pray.