REST FOR THE WEARY by Belle Beck Gibson

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Michigan · Apr 16, 1901

REST FOR THE WEARY

By Belle Beck Gibson

BELLE BECK GIBSON (Victoria, British Columbia)

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Oh, wondrous invitation! Who of us have not felt our burden indeed heavy, and we ourselves weak and weary, faint in both soul and body? Then comes this loving, pitiful invitation, “Come unto me.” And lest we should fail to take it to ourselves, He designates us by the words “all ye that labor and are heavy laden,” followed by the sweet promise, “I will give you rest.” Aye, the invitation is to all in every walk and calling in life. The minister, laboring against all the prejudice and traditions of men, seeing little fruits of his labor; the Bible worker, going, Bible in hand, from house to house; the canvasser, trudging over city and country to take orders; the carpenter at his bench; the blacksmith at his forge; the merchant behind the counter; the doctor making his daily rounds of visits; the weary housewife and mother, overburdened and weak; the washerwoman over the tub; the teacher; the school boy or girl; the farmer behind his plow, the “shut-in,” the great army of workers in all legitimate employment—all may come and receive strength from the same inexhaustible source. Weary, overworked, discouraged one, hear the tender promise of our merciful Saviour. He will bear the heaviest end of the yoke, and thus lighten all your labors.

I think we miss a great deal of the blessing the Lord intends us to receive through the Scripture, by not taking it literally, just as it reads, failing to realize that it is meant to strengthen us just when we need strength, just when we are weakest. There is physical strength in the Lord for those who are weak and ill in mind and body, borne down with burdens too great for them to bear, who must struggle on and on with no hope of their burdens being lightened. To such the words of the Lord in Isaiah 40 are especially addressed: “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? . . . He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might, He increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Have you faced your day’s duties in the morning, wondering how you were to accomplish so much in one day? There is the promise, “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.”

I think I can not better express what this renewing of strength means to me, than by relating an incident in my own experience. I had for some time felt my strength insufficient for my duties, and at the close of each day would find myself so exhausted and utterly worn out that I saw I must either drop some of my burdens or find increased strength for them. One morning at the beginning of a particularly trying day’s work, as I was reading the morning’s lesson to my little ones before engaging in prayer, I opened to the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, and as I read from the twenty-eighth to the thirty-first verses, a sense of the beauty and reality of the promise contained therein filled my soul, and I cried, “That is for me; it means real, physical strength for my daily duties.” When we bowed in prayer, I claimed the blessing, and received an earnest of the promise while still on my knees. I arose with my heart swelling with praise and thanksgiving; and during the day I could but sing for very joy. The words that came oftenest to my mind were, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” which I realized I was truly doing.

At the close of the day my duties were all performed, and I felt as fresh as at its beginning. I then walked a mile to prayer-meeting, and returned home, feeling every step a pleasure. Since that day I have never faced a difficult task without the knowledge that as my day, so shall my strength be. There is infinite comfort in the thought that the All-father loves and watches over each struggling, burdened child, and whispers, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.” Then look up and rejoice, weary one, in whatever station in life, “casting all your care upon Him; for he careth for you.”

“Child of my love, lean hard, And let me feel the pressure of thy care. I know thy burden, child, I shaped it, Poised it in mine own hand, made no proportion In its weight to thine unaided strength; For even as I laid it on, I said: ‘I shall be near, and while she leans on me, This burden shall be mine, not hers: So shall I keep my child within the circling arms Of my own love.’ Here lay it down, nor fear To impose it on a shoulder which upholds The government of worlds. Yet closer come; Thou art not near enough, I would embrace thy care, So I might feel my child reposing on my breast. Thou lovest me? I knew it. Doubt not then; But, loving me, lean hard.”