by Shannon Caughey

Coach, you emphasize to your athletes that working hard is necessary if they want to improve their skills and reach their potential. They need to practice and train with intensity and consistency. You also emphasize something else that must go hand-in-hand with hard work: rest and recovery. If athletes don’t also consistently take time for rest, they are in danger of suffering an injury or experiencing burn out instead of making progress.

You, too, work hard as a coach. You want to honor the Lord by pursuing excellence in your coaching role—and this takes time and energy. You bring an intensity of effort to how you carry out coaching responsibilities. You probably feel like there is always more you can or should be doing. But as with athletes, making progress as a coach—and in life as a whole—also requires building consistent rest into the rhythm of your life. And not just physical rest. You need rest at the core of your being in order to thrive spiritually.

How do you experience this rest? Consider the invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 – “²⁸ Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” In this and the next couple of devotions, we’ll look at what Jesus says in the passage about how we can experience the rest he promises.

The path to rest starts with our response to the invitation of Jesus: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Rather than suggesting extra sleep or some time off as the remedy to weariness, Jesus directs us to himself. He claims to be the source of rest. To experience this rest, then, requires that we look to Jesus and depend upon him. Why can we trust Jesus to give us the rest we most need?

First, Jesus understands the weariness we feel and the burdens we carry. Beyond physical fatigue because of the time and energy required, coaches often feel a weariness that comes with being second-guessed, misunderstood, and criticized. A lack of response to your efforts as a coach can also be draining. Jesus encountered similar realities. Jesus knows what it’s like to be worn out physically (John 4:6). In Matthew 11—leading up to the passage we’re focusing on—Jesus’ approach to ministry is second-guessed (v. 3), he’s misunderstood and criticized (v. 19), and many people ignore or reject him rather than responding to his teaching (v. 20). We can trust Jesus because he understands our weariness and burdens.

Second, Jesus fulfills his promises. When people around us say they will do something but then fail to follow through, it adds to the burdens we carry. As a coach, you may face this with your players, administrators, parents in the booster club, or others. In contrast, Jesus always does what he says he will do. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises, and Jesus fulfills the promises he makes and God makes to us through him. As 2 Corinthians 1:20 proclaims, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.” This includes the promise of rest. We can trust Jesus because he fulfills his promises.

When Jesus addresses “all of you who are weary and burdened,” you may immediately respond, “That’s me.” But even if you think you’re not too tired, you know the importance of rest in order to thrive over the long haul. Jesus says, “Come to me…and I will give you rest.” Trust him and respond to his invitation. You can depend upon Jesus for the rest you most need.

For reflection: What is holding you back from looking to Jesus for the rest you need? Share this with him and ask him to help you trust him more. Respond to Christ’s invitation to come to him for rest.