Where Striving Ends

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

I’ve read these words thousands of times. They’ve lived on a sticky note on my dashboard for about a year. So long that the ink has started to fade, not that that matters anymore- I have this passage written in my heart now.

For many months, I was focused on the “and you will find rest for your souls” part. But, recently, I’ve been pondering on the “come to Me” part. What does it look like to come?

Come is a verb, it implies action, motion. But I’m starting to wonder if, in this verse anyways, it looks less like running towards God and more like standing still long enough to feel His presence.

We spend so much of our lives striving-for control, perfection, security, performance, peace, purpose, even rest.

But with horses, much like with Christ, we see that partnership, gentle leadership, and learning how to move in rhythm together is where striving ends and rest begins.

Finding center is learning how to move with, not striving against; in our relationship with horses, humans, and God. And, I’m learning, that to really hear the rhythm you’re supposed to be moving in, you have to spend a good deal of time being quiet, being still, and listening.

Jesus invites us into partnership here in this verse, to take up His yoke. His yoke that is easy, His burden that is light. The burdens that we carry, the ones that weigh us down, that weary us- they aren’t ours to carry. All of our striving for perfection, for control, for admiration, for security, for purpose, for peace, for rest. It’s not ours. Jesus is inviting us to partnership, a partnership that He carries all the weight for, not to striving or pressure or performance.

Whatever weights you’re trying to shoulder alone, whatever burdens you carry, whatever strivings you buckle under. You don’t have to. You can lay it down. Rest is not earned, it is received. And that is the heart of Centered Path Equine: to experience this kind of rest. Peace through presence, connection, and Christ.

That old faded sticky note still reminds me daily: coming to Him isn’t about movement. It’s about trusting He’s already here.