“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Whenever I read these verses, I had always wished to see a real yoke placed on a pair of oxen to help them to pull a load. I thought my wish might come true in the country where I’m serving. However, God gave me a surprise when my dream came true in Thailand instead – when I was there for a team retreat in February this year.
Then after Chinese New Year, just two days before I was due to return to East Asia from Singapore, I was told by my doctor that I had to go for an urgent operation. It was an extremely trying period for me physically and emotionally. I’m given 6 weeks medical leave and I have yet to regain my full strength.
What is the difference between God’s yoke and the world’s yoke? For me at this point in time, the world is pushing me towards more and more performance, more and more achievement, and more and more striving. This yoke is hard especially when I do not have the physical strength nor stamina. And it still calls out to me to go on and on as long as I have one more breath. But God came and rescued me. He gently called out to me and stopped me from moving on so that I could learn from Him and rest and recuperate in Him. What the world might view as wasted time is actually God’s provision of rest and healing and restoration!
I am not rushing back to the mission field just yet. In agreement with our team-leaders, we’ll seek God’s will as I take this time to rest and wait upon God. We’ll re-evaluate in June if I should go back to the city and serving in this capacity. Thank you for your prayer support!
