By Eunhyey Lok

The song Slow Down, by IAMSON, has been on my heart recently. When I consider Jesus as a friend, this is what I imagine he might say to me:

Slow down, 
where are you going?
What’s so important that can’t wait?

Tell me 
what are you seeking?
What is it that’s keeping you from
Bringing me your questions
All that you carry, 
all that you bury underneath

Rest now,
be in the present
Here in the blessings of today
Listen just for a moment ….

Just slow down, 
just slow down
And 
meet with me
(Songwriters: Leslie Jordan / Orlando Palmer)

Even as I share these lyrics and parse out the line breaks, I feel the invitation, the emotion, the welcome to pause.
To feel.
To notice:
I am welcome. 
I am tired. 
I am longing for Jesus’ warmth.
I am unsure and uncertain.
I am anxious.
I am in need of more than physical rest.

One of the most consistent images of Jesus I see in my head is of him on a bench at Descanso Gardens near Los Angeles. There, he lets me put my head on his shoulder. Sometimes I smile. Sometimes I cry. But most often I just close my eyes and let him take care of me. 

There are times when my mind is so frazzled or harried, that I can’t picture that bench, or Jesus on it, waiting for me. 

What keeps me from slowing down?
What keeps me from pausing?
What keeps me from acknowledging that I carry the weight of all the problems of my family, friends, the government and the world on my shoulders?
That I take up the yoke of over-responsibility repeatedly even as Jesus has shown me that the yoke is already broken?

The yoke of believing it’s up to me. 
The yoke of believing there is no other way of living, except under the constant buzz of anxiety. 
The yoke of the fires in SoCal, the political and social, local and global miseries.
The smaller yokes of what to make for dinner, health insurance complications, “winterizing” my car for its first Minnesota frosts.
The constant yoke of trying to be caring and loving to family and friends, while also trying to be present to those in my work and ministry.

In a recent online devotion, I was moved by an observation on Luke 8:14 and Mark 4:22: that the gospel, like light or a secret, will not stay hidden for long. That there is a power to Jesus coming to earth. That the secret of the kingdom of God among us will break forth, even if we don’t see how to help it.

This moved me because it underscored how little my tiredness or ability to let go of my yokes will get in the way of the gospel doing its thing. Of Jesus being who Jesus is. This was good news to me: that the amazingness of my friend Jesus did not depend on how much energy or ability I had to be revealed. Rather, when I was anxious and tired, even when I couldn’t seem to slow down, Jesus wouldn’t stop reaching out to those who needed care, deliverance from their troubles, healing and friendship.  

And of even greater relief was that Jesus’ friendship did not disappear when I didn’t remember how to slow down.  Rather, Jesus simply was ready to bring me alongside him. 

Jesus already knows what I can and can’t do and he’s not phased or surprised by it. I’m relieved and grateful that, instead, Jesus is right there, ready to teach me all over again how to sit back down on the bench next to him, and let go of the heavy yokes. 

Eunhyey Lok (eunhyeylok.com) is a spiritual director, licensed marriage and family therapist and ordained pastor who specializes in working with Asian Americans, as well as leaders of ministries and international NGOs. Eunhyey is based in Los Angeles with her husband and son, but keeps her Minnesota roots alive through frequent visits to her hometown.