Are you exhausted? Need Some Rest?

Does exhausted describe you? Maybe you're mentally exhausted or simply physically exhausted because you've been BUSY!? Or maybe you are BOTH Man, I know I've been there! And it's not that you're goofing around. Maybe you're giving it all you got, it's just you ain't got any more to give it?  Or maybe you're rested and full of vim and zest, ready for anything! But I would guess that you can still identify with that feeling of total exhaustion. If exhausted describes you, now or at some point in your life, then I have to tell you about a special invitation I found for you and (me too)! If you're tired of the struggle, tired of the pressure, this invite has your name all over it. Matthew 11:28-30 BSB Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  The rest He promises you isn't an empty promise. I know the power of responding to His invitation. I've experienced it so many times. Sometimes, we want to rush into His Presence like we run through the drive through at our least favorite fast food. Expecting little and receiving little. We must learn to quiet our spirit and receive His peace. I know those words are wrapped in plain brown grocery paper. Simple words, there's nothing there to dazzle your eyes. The words are so simple they don't entice your taste buds. But if you respond to His invitation, it can transform you. The rest He promises you isn't an empty promise. I know the power of responding to His invitation. I've experienced His promise, "I will give you rest." so many times. I am so thankful that He wants to give His children rest, peace and strength. I'd love to hear your story of how He did that for you. But still, I have to ask the question, "Is there a way that we can live different? Is there a way that we don't have to get to the end of our rope before we experience His rest, His peace? Is our exhaustion the only door that rest can come through? I am convinced that answer is found in the next two verses. What does that kind of life look like? How do we get there? ...stay there? ...live there? As I was studying and praying over this teaching my thoughts visited my daughter's desire for a laundry room make over. It was a huge project. She would have to construct enough cabinets from 4' X 8' sheets of plywood to fill a 10' X 10' wall. And then the cabinets would need doors. An electrical outlet and plumbing would have to be moved. It was a crazy big project that would have been harrowing for lots of folks! But she did something that lots of people never do. Let me tell you about it and how it relates to living different.