Uniquely Yoked to Christ: Embracing the Lighter Burden You Were Created to Carry

“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.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

There have been many nights, especially since becoming a mother, that I have gone to bed feeling a deep sense of guilt for not doing better. Last night was one of those nights. Generally, the primary thought is something like this, “Why is it so hard for me to do the things I feel I should do?” Usually, these things I speak of are tied to wanting to be a better wife and mother. They are also often tied to wanting to be better disciplined in the areas of health and the work I feel called to do.

This morning, I lamented to God about these thoughts and feelings. Then I turned to Matthew 11, which is where I am currently at in my study of Matthew. At the end of the chapter, Jesus extends an invitation to His listeners to come and find rest in Him, to “yoke” themselves to Him for a lighter burden.

I knew there was something here that I needed to better understand in order to truly find my rest in Christ and to silence the thoughts I knew were not from God. So I turned to one of my favorite commentators, David Guzik of Enduring Word, to see what he had to say.

We are called to come to Christ to “relieve [our] need instead of living in self-sufficiency.” (Guzik)

We all struggle at times with the sin of Adam and Eve–pride. We want to do things ourselves and show the world how great we are. The problem is that this creates a burden we were never meant to carry.

“When training a new animal to plow, ancient farmers often yoked it to an older, stronger, more experienced animal who bore the burden and guided the young animal through the learning process.” Guzik

Jesus bears the brunt of the burden for us when we are yoked to Him. Being yoked to Him requires relationship and proximity to Him. It requires us to allow Him to guide us.

“The yoke of Jesus is easy and light as long as we do not rebel against it. It does not include burdens we choose to add to it.” (Guzik)

I can picture a young ox yoked with a more experienced ox wanting to go his own way. He doesn’t want to do what his master requires because it looks like it will be highly uncomfortable, even painful. But fighting against the yoke is exhausting and even dangerous. If he just submitted to the lead ox, the discomfort would lessen, and the workload would be bearable, perhaps even easy and enjoyable. Just as Jesus followed the lead of His Father, The lead ox has already learned to follow his master’s voice.

We often fight the yoke of Christ, maybe because what He’s calling us to looks difficult and painful or because we think we know better. We might decide to look at the way the world accomplishes things and emulate that instead of truly seeking God to show us how He wants us to do the work He has called us to. The truth is, our work will be burdensome, painful, and uncomfortable when we try to do it on our own or if we yoke ourselves to something or someone other than Christ.

“The word easy is in Greek chrestos, which can mean well-fitting. In Palestine, ox-yokes were made of wood…the yoke was carefully adjusted so that it would fit well and not [irritate] the neck of the patient beast. The yoke was tailor-made to fit the ox.” (Barclay quoted by Guzik)

If a yoke is tailor-made, that means each person has a unique burden to carry. The yoke assigned to each of us was designed so that when we are yoked to Christ, allowing Him to guide us and carry the brunt of the burden, it is bearable. When we try to put on other people’s yokes, we are trying to carry a burden that wasn’t meant for us to take. 

This year, I am trying to remind myself that God created me to thrive. I will not thrive by putting myself in someone else’s yoke to carry someone else’s burden. (Of course, we are to carry one another’s burdens, but this is speaking to something a bit different than what I am talking about.)

Peace and joy come with being yoked to Christ and carrying the burden I was uniquely designed to carry. When I compare myself to others and what they are doing or have accomplished, I feel shame for not doing or achieving more. This is a work of the enemy designed to keep me stuck and prevent me from looking to Christ to guide me into doing the works He has uniquely called me to do.

Are you yoked to Christ with the yoke tailor-made to follow His guidance and the load He has called you to carry? Or do you struggle, like me, with trying to fit into someone else’s yoke?