"Take My Yoke Upon You"

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
A talk I was asked to give regarding finding strength in the Lord amidst trials. (Thanks to Elder Holland for his remarkable teachings on this subject)

Intro:
Diamond Wedding Ring-The grieving husband of one of the Trolley Square shooting victims told reporters when they were married he couldn't afford a wedding ring. Now, 4 years later he had picked out a ring and had surprised his wife with a phone call to meet him at the jewelry store. She made it to the mall, never made it to the store.
Bishop Probst in Emmitt,Wa- Recently conducted the funeral of his own two teenage children and 3 other teenage siblings from another family in his ward who drowned when the car Bishop Probst’s daughter was driving slid off an icy highway on the way to school and landed upside down in pond.

How do they make it? How would we make it? Although tragic and instant loss of a loved one is particularly awful, all of us in this ward family face trials, maybe less tragic but still as taxing. What about those of us who are facing personal trials and family struggles, or better said by Elder Holland recently, “What about those who endure conflicts fought in the lonely foxholes of the heart, those trying to hold back floodwaters of despair that sometimes wash over us like a tsunami of the soul. Or what about those of us who feel our lives are broken, seemingly beyond repair."
He continued, “To all such I offer the surest and sweetest remedy that I know. It is found in the clarion call the Savior of the world Himself gave. He said it in the beginning of His ministry, and He said it in the end. He said it to believers, and He said it to those who were not so sure. He said to everyone, whatever their personal problems might be:”

Matthew 11:28-30: 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.

“This invitation is one of the grandest outpourings of spiritual emotion known to man;” James E Tallmadge.

3 Verbs and 1 pronoun that deserve attention. Let’s start with the three verbs, which are come, take, and learn. They provide the pattern for shifting spiritual burdens.

1) Come to the Savior. In this promise, that introductory phrase, “come unto me,” is crucial. It is the key to the peace and rest we seek. Don't bother trying to see how long you can tough it out. Don't drive yourself into spiritual and mental exhaustion by trying to do it alone! Come to the Savior. Bring your problems and your pains and your praise and seek him. The gospels tell us of the woman with the issue of blood who endured for twelve years before making her way to the savior. We don’t have to wait that long! To those of us who struggle or are under similar burdens the Savior's invitation is a guiding beacon showing us the way home.

2) "Take my yoke upon you . . ." As with the pair of oxen yoked together, when we take upon ourselves the yoke of Christ He becomes our “yokefellow”: a Partner of infinite strength capable of carrying the entire burden Himself. President Howard W. Hunter said:
"In Biblical times, the yoke was a device of great assistance to those who tilled the field. It allowed the strength of a second animal to linked and coupled with the strength of a single animal, sharing and reducing the heavy labor of the plow or wagon. A burden that was overwhelming or perhaps impossible for one could be equitably and comfortably borne by two bound together with a common yoke. His [Christ’s] yoke requires a great and earnest effort, but for those who truly are converted, the yoke is easy and the burden becomes light.
Why face life's burdens alone, Christ asks, or why face them with temporal support that will quickly falter. To the heavy laden it is Christ's yoke, it is the power and peace of standing side by side with a God that will provide the support , balance, and strength to meet our challenges and endure our tasks here in mortality." (Conference Report, October 1990, p. 20)

So- Compared to the burdens people without Christ carry, it is easy. His yoke requires covenants and obedience and sacrifice, but in return he removes the burdens of sin and uncertainty and darkness, burdens infinitely greater in scope and weight. He shows us where we are going and gives us the power to get there. The paralytic lowered through the roof had a bed to carry home after his healing (Mark 2:2-12) but the bed cannot have weighed more than the infirmity the Savior removed from him.

3) "Learn of me . . ." The lessons we must learn about him we can only learn after we have taken his yoke. Without the covenants and without obedience, the sacrifices required of us will make little if any sense at all. To learn of him we must follow him. We cannot come to this knowledge while we follow the ways of the world. But we do not have to learn everything for the power to come to us. President Boyd K. Packer said, "You need not know everything before the power of the atonement will work for you. Have faith in Christ; it begins to work the day you ask." (Ensign, May 1997, p. 10)

4) Now for the pronoun, ALL. . "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden . . ." Not some of you, not most of you-"ALL ye that labor” are invited. If you are lonely, please know you can find comfort. If you are discouraged, please know you can find hope. If you are poor in spirit, please know you can be strengthened. If you feel you are broken, please know you can be mended.
Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. Sometimes a “healing” cures our illness or lifts our burden. But sometimes we are “healed” by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us.

The bottom line- There can and will be plenty of difficulties in life. Nevertheless, ALL those that COME unto Christ, who TAKE Him for his word and LEARN of Him and know His voice and strive to do as He did, will find deliverance and strength, even beyond his own. The Savior reminds us that He has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.” Quoting Elder Holland again, “Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means it!”

May God grant us all the faith and courage to cast our burdens on the lord and sweet refreshment find? In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.