"Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28
"Come to me..." These words disarm me. With these three little words my walls come crashing down and the hardness in my heart that holds my burdens so tightly to myself for fear of what someone might think quickly melts into the hands of my loving Savior.
Because with Jesus I don't have to fear rejection.
For all my life this has been one of my greatest fears. The fear that I will be cast out, turned away, or passed over because I'm not happy enough or smart enough or good enough. The fear that I will be found inadequate and therefore unworthy. Over the years I've built up a sturdy fortress around my heart for this very reason.
These words are so difficult to write, but I write them for two reasons:
1. I'm only starting to learn the power of being vulnerable. The power of being able to speak up and share my struggles and not let the fear of being rejected keep me from starting a conversation that I doubt I'm the only one keeping to myself. I see the value and the power of breaking down walls and letting people in, and I want to live in that power.
2. The power in vulnerability comes from One who first called us to it. Read Matthew 11:28 again. Jesus calls us to Himself. Jesus invites us into His presence, and He doesn't do so because we've already got it all figured out.
His words are an invitation to bring our weary lives, to unlock the gates of our heart, and lay out every burden before Him. He asks us to drop our defenses and the pretense of put togetherness and bring our whole heart to Him. When we do this, when we come to Him as He longs for us to do, He promises the rest mentioned in this verse that is too crazy good to talk about here and now. He also promises the one thing my heart needs to hear the most:
"All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." - John 6:37
Jesus knows our mess. He knows what burdens our hearts, what weighs down our minds, and how deeply we've let our fears build walls around the very place He wants to reside.
And in knowing all of that He calls us to Himself and says "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away."
He will never drive us away.
He will never cast us out.
He will never reject us.
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