This Month’s Theme:
Lay Down Your Burdens
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:30
Artist’s Reflection
There are times when it feels like everything around you is going wrong. These could be tiny problems or big ones, but you feel like you’re surrounded by stones and heavy burdens.
Then God comes and takes you into His arms, and suddenly you are in a beautiful garden. You are still in the same situation, but your burden’s now seen as something different.
I faced a lot of difficult situations this year, but knowing that God is still holding me changed everything.
—Peter Lici
Join in the Conversation
Imagine you’re climbing a steep flight of stairs, weighed down by heavy backpacks and luggages. They could be filled with the stressors of life, unachieved dreams, or broken relationships.
Then, a friendly voice says, “Come, let me help you”. Relief washes over us as we hand some of our heavy burdens to this kind person. Soon the trip up the steep stairs of life becomes less painful and a little bit more fun as we now have a partner to laugh and chat with along the way.
Jesus has promised us an easier yoke and a lighter burden (Matthew 11:30), if we’d only let go of our burdens for His. This isn’t a promise to make all our problems vanish in an instant, but it’s an assurance that He’ll be right next to us, carrying our loads with us.
Come with us this month as we reflect on Jesus’ invitation to lay our burdens at His feet. How easy (or hard) is it for you to do so? Do you trust His plans for your life?
If you have got a story to share, we’d love to hear it! Check out our writers’ guidelines and send us your story.
Here are some subthemes to help you get started:
- Exchanging our yoke/burdens for His
- Finding rest for our souls
- Encountering the gentleness and humility of Christ
Topics to Explore
Exchanging our yoke/burdens
Giving God our burdens, exchanging our man-made plans for His, dying to our self, planning vs trusting God, learning to surrender and trust God, leaning on the strength of community, living interdependently, living out our identity as Christians, struggles with envy and comparison, peer pressure, unfulfilled dreams and desires, identifying disordered passions/loves, confronting our financial fears/insecurities, dealing with relationship woes, worries about family (parents getting older), choosing obedience
Finding rest for our souls
Rest from anxieties and insecurities (about our appearance, worth, identities, achievements, success), learning to truly rest, looking after our mental/physical health, the power of prayer, placing our confidence in Christ, identifying obstacles to rest, loving God with our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, spending time with God
Encountering the gentleness and humility of Christ
Gentleness, humility, forgiveness, the character of Christ, experiencing restoration & renewal, being transformed by Christ, being tenderhearted, growing in compassion, putting on love
Join in the Fun
If you’re more of a visual person, you can be a part of the YMI community by contributing or tagging your artworks with our hashtag #ymitoday. Check out our creatives’ guidelines and send us your artworks.
We know you love your colours, so do we! Each quarter, we set a colour theme that we’ll work around. Use the colour palette below to increase your chances of getting featured!
