A ministry friend of mine was late for his appointment with me. He finally arrived breathless as he explained that 24 hours in a day just isn’t enough! He was trying so hard to be a loving and purposeful pastor. But no matter how hard he strained, he couldn’t meet all of the expectations—including his own! The weight of church needs and ministry responsibilities was crushing him.

Pushing so hard left him exhausted. Plus, he knew that his wife and kids needed more time and energy than he had. He sheepishly attempted to deflect his guilt by joking, And Jesus said his yoke was easy!

Is the Yoke Easy or Heavy?

Many ministry leaders I talk to think that serving the Lord is hard and demanding. I used to feel this way years ago and sometimes still feel the pressure of a growing ministry.

Maybe you can relate? Serving in an executive role certainly comes with unique spiritual and emotional challenges. The burden of high-level leadership, staff care, strategic planning, operations, and stewardship of resources certainly takes a toll. That’s not to mention family concerns or financial tensions you might be facing, personally.

I listened to my friend let off steam about all that was on his plate. Afterward, I empathetically asked with a hint of a smile: I wonder who gave you so much to do? All of us experience times when the yoke of Jesus feels heavy. This feeling is like a warning light that shows something’s off. It invites us to move toward the rhythm of our life and ministry and ask, Maybe it’s my yoke or the yoke of someone else who is burdening me and not Jesus?

The Yoke of Jesus

The Good Shepherd doesn’t give you too much to do. He doesn’t expect you to lead your church, make major decisions, and determine strategic direction on your own. But it’s easy to put these kinds of pressures on yourself. Jesus desires to help you find rest and refreshment for your soul. He offers to teach you how to partner with his grace to approach life, family, and ministry in a way that’s easy and light (Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 23:1-3).

This doesn’t mean that Jesus will remove all your problems or stress. It also doesn’t necessarily suggest fewer hours at work, although this can be helpful sometimes. Instead, the Gospels model for us how to live out the way of Jesus that leads to his best, most loving, and most purposeful kind of life (John 14:6).

How did Jesus remain loving, calm, and peaceful while deliberately missional? When crowds clamored for him and fought to get near him? During the times he was at sea in the middle of life-threatening storms? Even when he had only three short years to train his disciples and establish a ministry that would last for eternity? How about when he suffered intensely under the weight of false accusation, oppressive soldiers, and the cross?

Jesus and Dependency

What was Jesus’ secret? He learned to live in the same easy yoke and light burden he offers. The Messiah practiced and became totally dependent on God—both in his younger years and during his ministry. He memorized Scripture, stepped away for solitude and silence, ministered in secret, followed the Spirit into hiddenness, learned to set boundaries, and fasted and prayed.

This training taught him that he could fully trust his Papa, who knew him perfectly and loved him unconditionally (Matthew 11:27). He learned Abba’s ways of grace and adopted them as his own (Luke 2:52, John 14:6). Jesus’ intimacy and training with God empowered him to peacefully join the work the Father was already doing (John 5:19-20). But committing to the Father’s work also means he didn’t take on responsibility and weight that weren’t his to carry. Even though Jesus was God, this wasn’t automatic for him. He became human and shared our experience of learning and growing (Luke 2:52, Hebrews 2:17, 5:8).

Take Jesus’ teaching on the easy yoke as an example. Before he tells us about the yoke, he first models for us how to get into it through intentional practice. All of us can learn from our Rabbi’s real-life experience …

Jesus finds himself frustrated and disappointed that the people of the towns where he did most of his miracles didn’t repent of their sins and trust him.

Experiencing those heightened emotions, Jesus abruptly breaks into prayer (Matthew 11:25 MSG). By grace, the Father helped him set aside denouncing the cities that rejected God and speak tenderly to the people instead (Matthew 11:27 MSG).

Jesus could have responded to rejection by lashing out in anger, getting stressed out and over-functioning, or succumbing to helplessness and giving up. Instead, he remembered his training. He leaned into his practice of prayer and abandoning outcomes to God. This freed him up to be present, loving, and compassionate to those desiring him.

Jesus then reveals the source of his secret strength:

This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge (Matthew 11:27 MSG). He then invites us to join him in this way of life and experience the ease and lightness of his rhythms of grace (Matthew 11:27-28 MSG).

Dallas Willard breaks down the easy yoke in his book, The Spirit of the Disciplines:

We cannot behave “on the spot” as Jesus did and taught if in the rest of our time we live as everybody else does …

The secret of the easy yoke, then, is to learn from Christ how to live our total lives, how to invest all our time and our energies of mind and body as he did. We must learn how to follow his preparations, the disciplines for life in God’s rule that enabled him to receive his Father’s constant and effective support while doing his will (p. 7, 9).

How can you train to live with the peace and power of Jesus? What might it look like to approach your life and executive role from grace instead of trying hard to meet expectations and accomplish more?

Steps

Here are three steps to help you get started growing in grace:

  1. Start with the vision that the Risen Christ is before you right now, inviting you to apprentice yourself to him and learn how to live your whole life in the Kingdom of God.
  2. Studying our Master’s rhythm of life is one of the most valuable lessons you can absorb. Here’s a tip: Read through the Gospels not just looking at what Jesus did but paying attention to how he lived. Then ask God to help you order your life and ministry accordingly.
  3. To grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior, we need to practice some tried and true disciplines that we see in his life. In fact, anything can be a spiritual discipline when done with Jesus and the right attitude (for example, practicing a breath prayer can help you become aware of God’s presence and trust him during stressful decisions.)

Disciplines don’t earn us grace—they help us connect with it. They are simply means for us to come to Jesus to become like him. I wrote out a list of spiritual disciplines to help.

If you are excited about learning and embracing the secret of Jesus’ easy yoke—the Soul Shepherding Institute can help! Our five-day retreats are designed to help you overcome your hurts and struggles and develop a flourishing life in Christ. You could also start by reading Your Best Life in Jesus’ Easy Yoke to de-stress and live empowered.

I pray that you grow in Jesus’ rhythms of grace and experience the fruitfulness of living your whole life with God!