“Come to Me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

—Gospel of Matthew 11 : 28

Jesus has the power to put you at ease if you invite Him into your life.

There is a beautiful painting, “The Light of the World,” by William Holman Hunt, that depicts Jesus outside a door knocking, lantern in hand. There is no keyhole or handle on the door, but Jesus keeps on knocking. The message is clear. The door can only be opened from the inside, and you hold the key.

Let Him in!

God works differently in the lives of each person. This difference may bring with it some unexpected challenges. When a wife or husband discovers God in a new and personal way, he or she may have to wait years for the other partner to catch up. Only a profound love of God and of his or her mate makes it possible for them to accept this new challenge in their lives.

A friend of mine described the change that took place in his marriage after his wife let Jesus into her life. He found his wife’s transformation hard to understand, at first, but he liked it for it contributed to a better sense of harmony in their relationship. They were business partners as well as marriage partners. Gradually, he began to appreciate what was going on. “My wife,” he told me, “had developed a personal relationship with Christ and it overflowed into our marriage and business. When I caught on to this, I followed her lead. Now I know what its like to have a personal relationship with Christ. It took me years to learn this.”

Being patient, not taking yourself too seriously, and letting God do His work in your life in His own good time is a lesson we all must learn. Joy, the release of pleasant emotions when you’re at ease, is the reward of those who patiently let the Lord come into their lives. This joy is not the same as the ephemeral joy the world offers. It is an abiding joy that wells up from the deep recesses of the soul when one is at peace with God and all His creation. This is the joy Christ talks about when He says, “I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full ” ( John 15 : 11 ).

Have you noticed how different were the personalities of the apostles? These men of faith were very different. But, their personalities did not prevent them from letting the Lord work through them.

Our personalities do not make us saints. What makes us acceptable to the Lord is learning to live with the personalities God gave us and letting Christ work through us.

Is it worth the risk to invite Christ into your life? You bet. Of course, you will experience misunderstanding and persecution, but you will be at ease and feel refreshed. The burden of following Him, we are assured, will not be burdensome.

It will be light ( Matthew 11 : 30 ).

Open your heart to His presence in the little things: a helping hand to someone in need, a smile to the person next door, a word of encouragement or a kind word to someone who is struggling to get by.

Spend time with the Lord each day, meditating on His word in the scriptures. If that doesn’t put you at ease, I don’t know what will.

And, don’t forget to have fun with your friends and loved ones for laughter puts you at ease. As scripture says, “laughter is healing to the body” (Proverbs 17:22).

—Fr. Hugh Duffy