Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

There are two seemingly conflictive concepts here. Rest is promised. And, a yoke is being offered. Yokes are for animals like oxen. It hooks onto a wagon or other load carrying mechanism. It is designed for hard work. Usually it has a place for two animals to pull together. This is the case with Jesus' yoke. Here is how this Scripture works. We give our burdens to Him. We are weary and burdened down from them because they are OUR burdens. Our burdens are different from someone else's burdens. Our burdens can be life threatening, embarrassing, career threatening, relationship threatening, pain threatening, finance threatening, or peace threatening. Other's burdens can concern us. But, they don't concern us the way our burdens do. Our burdens are really important. We usually feel that they are much more important than someone else's. Jesus understands this principle. So, He is offering to take care of our burdens. All He is asking of us is to completely turn the care of it over to Him. He is going to work His miracles on our burdens. They are a done deal.

Now, we are free to concern ourselves with someone else's burdens. Jesus' yoke is designed for those other people in our life. He is wanting us to accept the weight of their problems and concerns. He will get into the yoke with us. He won't be asking us to do it in our own strength. But He is asking for a certain type of attitude concerning other's burdens. He wants us to really, really care. Remember how we were able to generate some tremendous tears for our problems? Remember how we could sweat some great drops of perspiration for our situations? He wants us to love them with this same quality and quantity of compassion. They are our new assignment. Our burdens are gone. The needs of the unsaved around us are here. We will be doing some mourning. It just won't be selfish mourning. It will be a great concern for those God has called us minister to.

Step Three introduced us to the exciting, dynamic ministry that had been waiting for us all along. As we start getting involved in it, it reveals some of the greatest joy, happiness, and fulfillment we have ever experienced. But, it was missing something. It all seemed a little mechanical. Our mind was changed. But, our heart was missing. It isn't until the mourning kicks in that it becomes a real ministry. It can just be another type of job. Working FOR God. God doesn't want that. He wants us working WITH Him. We have to allow His heart to infuse itself into our heart. Step Four is calling us to let the pain and suffering of the needy touch our heart. God is wanting us to hurt, suffer, be in pain, for people we don't even really know. We can either suffer from our own hurts, pain, and worries or allow other's problems drive ours out. But, that is only possible when we expose ourselves to these people. It can't be a casual relationship. It is going to have to be more intimate than that. This kind of ministry requires that we let their lives into our life.