Are you tired? Are you worn out, burnt out on religion? Come to me, get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest, walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11:28-30, MSG)

What a beautiful promise from Jesus. There's something powerful about the imagery of surfing that connects beautifully with how God wants us to move in His grace. Think about that iconic scene in Lilo and Stitch where they're surfing in Hawaii with "Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride" playing in the background. It's this beautiful moment of freedom and flow, which is exactly what Jesus offers us.

When Life Feels Like Too Much

Back in 2021, during the height of the pandemic, I found myself completely overwhelmed. Our church family was navigating uncharted waters, trying to rebuild ministries, doing outreaches, and getting creative with our leadership. I remember leading City Kids online for an entire year and feeling the weight of responsibility pressing down on my shoulders.

That summer, we decided to take our youth group on a trip to Alabama for a conference. At the time, we had about 20-30 kids coming to youth each week (praise God, we now have over 100 students and are taking 200 to Soul Fire!). I was tasked with getting 40 students and young adults on a bus for an eight-hour drive, and honestly, I was already at capacity.

From day one, I felt stressed. Getting everyone on the bus, making sure they were all accounted for, keeping them safe, ensuring they had fun. I remember lying down that first night in the hotel, finally breathing a sigh of relief, when suddenly there was incessant knocking on doors at 11 PM. Kids from another youth group were running around causing chaos, and in my exhausted state, I marched out and told them, "Do you have any idea who I am? I am the pastor of this entire hallway! I know your pastor and if you don't get back to your room, I'm going to call him right now" (I didn't actually know their pastor, but desperation makes you creative.)

The Cost of Carrying Tomorrow's Weight

Here's what I realized looking back on that season: I wasn't just physically and mentally depleted; I was spiritually depleted. I had missed my opportunity to partner with Jesus in what He had called me to do. Instead of walking hand in hand with Him and learning His rhythms of grace, I was trying to prove myself, carrying the weight of responsibility alone.

When I read Jesus's words in Matthew 11 now, they don't just sound like beautiful poetry. They read like rescue. Jesus isn't speaking to those who have it all together. He's speaking to 2021 Jess, and He's speaking to anyone who feels like they're in over their head.

Maybe you're a new mom trying to stay afloat between feedings, naps, and diaper changes while also tending to your soul. Maybe you're a young person about to finish high school, overwhelmed by all the options and directions your future could take. Maybe you're a business owner striving to make your business succeed while just trying to survive. Or perhaps you're a ministry leader who shows up faithfully, opening doors and serving week after week, but wondering who's going to show up for you.

Three Ways to Surf Life's Waves with Grace

Jesus is inviting you into a new rhythm, a rhythm of grace that's lighter and freer. Let me share three simple truths drawn from our surfing analogy and Matthew 11:

1. Stay in Today's Wave

God is inviting you to move in His grace for today, not tomorrow's imaginary troubles. Surfers learn early that you can't ride every wave that passes by. If you chase yesterday's wave, you'll miss the one in front of you.

Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that God's mercies are new every morning. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed not because life is too much, but because we're carrying days we were never meant to carry. Some of you are fixated on thinking about the future, overwhelmed about what's to come, and failing to realize the grace God has for you right now.

I learned this lesson personally when my husband and I decided to start trying to build our family. I found myself spiraling into anxiety, thinking, "Am I going to be a good mom? What's the plan, God?" In one of those moments, the Lord spoke so clearly to me: "Jess, I have called you to live in the grace for today. You're feeling overwhelmed because you're thinking about your future with only today's grace. When that time comes, I will have different grace available for you."

Jesus gives us a similar reminder in Matthew 6:34: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

2. Know the Tides

This means discerning God's timing and voice for your life. A skilled surfer doesn't jump on any wave they see. They're attuned to the ocean, knowing when the tides are moving and when the swell is building. They know when to paddle and when to wait.

But here's what surfers don't do: they don't look left and right, see someone catching a wave 100 feet away, and think, "I've got to go!" What's right for someone else may not be right for you. God has something set apart for you.

It becomes dangerous when we start taking our cues from our friend groups, from social media, from comparing and looking at what other people are doing. We can be so tempted to look at what God is doing in other people's lives and think that's for us. But God is calling you not to move with the crowd; He's calling you to move with His voice.

Jesus modeled this perfectly. In John 5:19, He says He does only what He sees His Father doing. Jesus moved only when the Father told Him to move, spoke only when the Father told Him to speak. If Jesus had listened to His disciples and taken His cues from what the crowds wanted, He wouldn't have fulfilled His mission to die on the cross for us.

My husband and I have been walking through a season of infertility for about four years now, and we're still believing God has babies for us in Jesus' name. This journey has taught us the importance of taking our cues from the Lord alone, not from social media advice, not from what makes sense in our friend group, but from God's voice and timing.

When was the last time you slowed down long enough to ask Jesus, "What are you doing in this season of my life? What are you doing in me? Not what you're doing in my sister, not even what you're doing in my husband or my parents. God, what are you doing in me? What is the unique responsibility and calling that you have placed on my life?"

Some seasons are for paddling, some seasons are for resting, some seasons are for waiting. You don't have to match someone else's momentum. You just need to match God's voice.

3. Let the Wave Carry You

This is about surrendering to God's power. At some point in surfing, you have to stop paddling and catch the wave. You can position yourself and prepare, but the ride doesn't happen until you surrender to the power underneath you.

Jesus offers us this same kind of partnership through what He calls a "yoke." In biblical times, a yoke was a wooden harness placed over two oxen to plow fields together. When there was a younger, less experienced ox, farmers would pair it with a larger, more seasoned ox. The beautiful thing about this arrangement is that the wooden yoke rested on the larger ox, so the smaller one didn't feel the weight but was still tethered and had to walk where the larger ox led.

This is exactly what Jesus offers us. He puts His yoke on our neck and says, "Walk with me, work with me. This isn't going to be a burden you feel, but if you stand by me, you'll go places you never thought you'd go."

A Personal Testimony of God's Yoke

I think about the gift God has given me to speak and teach. I've had a fear of public speaking my entire life. Seven years ago, during my first time preaching, I remember feeling that burden so heavily. I was standing there with the microphone, thinking I could just hand it to another pastor and run out of the room.

But the Holy Spirit spoke so clearly: "Jess, you feel all this pressure because I have you like a bow in my arrow, and I've pulled you back to your capacity. But when you step into this calling, I'm going to release you, and you're going to feel that weight lift off of you. Not because you're doing this, but because you're doing this with me, with my anointing and my strength."

This is the perfect example of how Jesus wants to partner with you. Carrying Jesus's yoke isn't a heavy burden, but it does require obedience. Being tethered to Jesus means you have to walk with Him. Being yoked with Jesus means you have to go where He's taking you. Yes, it means you don't feel the burden, but you still have a responsibility to walk with Him.

The Invitation to True Freedom

This isn't passive Christianity; this is partnered Christianity. Some of you might say, "Pastor Jess, I love Jesus. I've been saved multiple times, but if I'm honest, I'm not yoked with Him. I haven't really been walking with Him."

You wonder why you feel overwhelmed, why you still feel burdened, why that weight of guilt and shame still plagues you. It's because you've surrendered part of your life to Jesus, but you haven't given Him everything.

The invitation Jesus has for you is simple: "Come to me." He's saying, "Come over here. We know each other, you're familiar with me, but I see you. You're burdened, exhausted, tired, panic-stricken. Come to me. Put on this yoke."

Yes, it means some things will have to change. Yes, it means we're going to plow this field together. Yes, it means sacrifice. But it also means lightness. It also means freedom.

Grace for Today

Whether you've never accepted Jesus as your Savior or you've been a Christian for years but don't know the lightness that comes with being completely yoked to Jesus, this invitation is for you.

Jesus has grace for you today, provision for today, peace for today. Not for the troubles you're imagining for tomorrow, but grace for this moment, this season, this unique place He's called you to be in.

The wave is here. The grace is available. Come to Jesus, and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.