Accept the invitation

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NIV

In an interview after Sunday’s St. Louis Marathon, 35-year-old runner Jim Wahl, who suffers from autism, said “I completed my first half marathon!” Wahl ran 13.1 miles in 2 hours, 20 minutes, and 4 seconds. He has those numbers, and many others, memorized. “He just has such a knack for numbers, and he always has,” Jim’s father Bill Wahl said. Jim’s autism makes him a number wizard. If you tell him your birth date, he can tell you what day of the week that was. “He’s going to do really well on a course with a lot of numbers, mile markers, water stations to count, your pace per mile,” said Go! St. Louis president Mona Vespa. After the race that Jim ran with his brother, Jim had this to say, “It was hard, really hard. I’m gonna go rest.” Of making the course friendly to everyone, Mona, who is also the Race Director, said,“You know, I think the cool thing about running is it’s pretty accessible to a lot of people and there’s easy ways to make accommodations so that everyone has the opportunity. Any time we can make that possible, we do.”

And you know, when it comes to rest and accessibility, Jesus gave this invitation to every person who needed respite, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” And you can be sure that when Jesus beckoned the masses to "come" that he drove no one away. You see, Jesus wants everyone to be relieved from the heavy load of self-sufficiency that comes from trusting in ourselves rather than our Savior. And we shed the burden of self-reliance when we voluntarily place the things that weigh us down (things like worry, fear, doubt, and confusion) at His feet and accept the spiritual refreshment that trusting Him to work those things out brings.

So if the circumstances of life have you feeling worn out, worn down, anxious, or overwhelmed today, say yes to Jesus’ invitation and come to the cross and lay it all down my friend. Trust Jesus to work it all for your good and embrace the rest you so desperately need.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being a God who genuinely wants us to have the peace that surpasses all understanding regardless of the turmoil going on around us or in us. Help us to resist the urge to try and handle our problems on our own Lord and to give them to You instead, acknowledging that You are the only One who can fix them. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!!!