Find Rest for Your Soul

Pastor Derek | 16 August 2026
Scripture: Matthew 11:28–30
Series: Holding On When Life Feels Heavy

There is a kind of heaviness in life that almost everyone understands: weariness.

We know what it is like to reach the end of a long day completely exhausted. We have poured ourselves into our work, family, ministry and responsibilities, and by the time we stop, there seems to be nothing left.

Continuing Elim Church’s series, “Holding On When Life Feels Heavy,” Pastor Derek turns our attention to Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28–30:

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

But what does the rest Jesus promises actually look like?

The Load We Carry

Pastor Derek begins by examining the two descriptions Jesus uses: “weary” and “heavy laden.”

To be weary describes the exhaustion that comes from our own labour and effort. We push ourselves, give everything we have and eventually find ourselves running on empty.

Pastor Derek points to the prophet Elijah as an example.

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah experienced an extraordinary victory at Mount Carmel. Yet immediately afterwards, when Queen Jezebel threatened his life, Elijah ran into the wilderness, collapsed beneath a tree and told God that he had had enough.

A great man of God had become exhausted.

God’s response is significant. He did not immediately lecture Elijah or condemn him for his weakness. Instead, God allowed him to rest and provided food to restore his strength.

If Elijah could become weary, so can we.

But Jesus also speaks of those who are “heavy laden.” This describes a different kind of burden: a load placed upon us by someone else.

We can become exhausted trying to carry other people’s expectations, pressures and standards. We may feel pressured to become the person others expect us to be rather than the person God has called us to be.

Jesus confronted this same problem among the Pharisees. They placed heavy religious demands upon people but did little to help them carry those burdens.

We can experience the same thing today. Expectations can come from society, our workplace, family, ministry and even church culture. If we are not secure in who we are in Christ, those expectations can weigh heavily upon us.

Instead of receiving rest, we receive stress.

Take My Yoke Upon You

Into this weariness Jesus gives an unexpected invitation:

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me.”

A yoke was a wooden crossbar used to join two animals so they could work together and carry a load.

The picture is important because Jesus does not simply tell us to abandon every responsibility. Instead, He offers us an exchange.

Take His yoke.

When we are yoked to Christ, we are no longer carrying the load by ourselves. We walk beside Someone infinitely stronger than us.

The responsibility may still exist. The work may still need to be done. The circumstances may not immediately change.

But we are no longer carrying them alone.

Christ becomes our partner in the work.

This means inviting Jesus into every area of life — our careers, families, ministries, businesses, studies and responsibilities. Instead of saying, “I have to handle this myself,” we learn to say, “Jesus, walk with me. Help me carry this.”

Learn From Jesus

Jesus also tells us:

“Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.”

This learning is different from merely accumulating information.

Pastor Derek contrasts Jesus with the Pharisees, who possessed great knowledge of Scripture but allowed that knowledge and position to become a source of pride and control.

Jesus is completely different.

He does not use His authority to crush those who are already weak. He is gentle. He is humble. He does not place impossible expectations upon us and then leave us struggling beneath them.

When we are yoked to Christ, we are walking beside a Saviour who understands our weakness and treats us with gentleness.

That is why His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Two Dimensions of Rest

Pastor Derek draws attention to something beautiful in Matthew 11.

First, Jesus says:

“I will give you rest.”

This is rest that Christ gives us when we come to Him. We do not earn it or work towards it. We simply receive it.

But Jesus later says:

“You will find rest for your souls.”

This points to a rest that we continue discovering as we remain yoked to Christ and walk with Him.

There is therefore rest at the beginning, when we come to Jesus, and there is rest that we continually discover along the journey as we remain close to Him.

Jesus does not merely give us a moment of relief. He teaches us a new way to live.

Rest Is Not Simply Doing Nothing

One of the key insights of the message is that biblical rest should not be understood simply as the absence of work.

Pastor Derek explains the Old Testament idea of being settled or placed where God intends us to be. Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, but he was still given meaningful work to do.

This helps us understand something important:

Rest can be found in doing the right work, in the right place, under God’s hand.

There are times when we can be physically tired yet inwardly refreshed because we know we are doing what God has called us to do.

Our work itself is not necessarily the problem.

The deeper question is whether we are yoked to Christ in that work.

God may call one person to ministry and another to business. Someone else may be called to teach, raise a family, serve behind a desk or build something that provides for others.

The question is not whether one type of work is more spiritual than another.

The question is:

Are we where God wants us to be, doing what God has called us to do, with Jesus beside us?

When the answer is yes, we may still experience physical tiredness, but our souls can remain refreshed.

Three Questions for Us

Pastor Derek closes by asking us to examine our own lives.

Are you tired and exhausted under the load of life?

Perhaps you have been pushing yourself relentlessly, striving in your own strength or carrying expectations that were never yours to carry. Jesus invites you to surrender those burdens to Him.

Are you yoked to Christ in the work you are doing?

Have you invited Jesus into your responsibilities, decisions and struggles? Or are you trying to carry everything alone?

Learn to lean on Him, depend on Him and work together with Him.

Finally:

Are you doing what God wants you to do?

There may be priorities that need to change. There may be things we need to put down so that we can make room for what God is actually calling us to do.

Sometimes weariness is telling us that we have been carrying something God never asked us to carry.

Find Rest for Your Soul

Jesus’ invitation remains open:

Come to Me.

We are not being invited merely into a religion, a set of traditions or another list of responsibilities. We are being invited to come to a Person.

Jesus carried the greatest burden of all when He bore our sin upon the cross. Through His death and resurrection, He offers us forgiveness, freedom and new life.

And He continues to invite every weary heart:

Come to Me. Take My yoke. Learn from Me.

We do not have to endure life’s load alone.

When life feels heavy, surrender the burdens you were never meant to carry. Let go of the expectations that are crushing you. Bring Jesus into the work God has placed before you.

You may still have responsibilities. You may still become physically tired. The road may still require effort.

But when you are yoked to Christ, you are no longer carrying the weight alone.

Walk with Him.

Learn from Him.

Depend on His strength.

And as you remain beside Him, you will discover again and again the promise Jesus has given to every weary heart:

“You will find rest for your souls.”