His Yoke | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: His Yoke | Previous Challenge Entry
By Frederick Roback
01/22/13
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

It was a place one never wants for find one’s self. A place where the burdens of life had become so heavy that all you can focus on is what’s happening to you. Many years ago I found myself in this distressing self preoccupation. The walls of grief had closed in, painted in the colors of family issues and employment problems. In times past relief could be found in the sweet hour of prayer but this was different, things had gotten too heavy! Nevertheless I dragged myself to the church. I remember feeling numb as I opened the combination lock to release the church door key. Mechanically my feet trudged up the stairs to the sanctuary. It was a time I least expected to hear from God but a time when His Spirit was most willing to speak to me.
My prayer began as a heavy slow whisper, “Lord, I don’t even think I can pray tonight, my life has become a burden to heavy to bear”.
Then in an almost imperceptible way I heard a faint voice inside say, “Take my yoke upon you, for my burden is light and my yoke is easy”.
I replied with a despairing tone, “I’d love to have your light and easy yoke but right now I’ve got a heavy one that I can’t get rid of”. I thought the dialogue was over till I heard the following words I’ll never forget. “Well, why don’t you ask me to place my yoke upon you? If you ask me I will have to remove your yoke in order to put mine on.”
The words startled and humbled me. Such a simple solution, ask God to put his yoke on me and he will have to take mine off. Faith stirred in me because I realized all along I had been struggling with something God could deal with. So in childlike response I simply said; “Alright, put your yoke upon me.” From that point on I began to pray about all kinds of things, the church to grow, revival to come, and God’s blessing and salvation for various people. Some time passed, and when it came time to leave I felt lighter in my step as I bounced down the stairs into the parking lot. There was a peace and joy completely out of character with the way I had entered into prayer. It was then that it occurred to me that not once had I prayed about any of my own issues but only for others. Then I understood that God’s yoke will cause me to care for others and forget myself. In this alone is true rest found.
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” *
*(Scripture from NIV Bible Matthew 11:29)

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY FOR THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.