I love thrifting for décor and finding great deals! A few years ago, I scored an amazing lamp for only a $1.99 (woohoo!). It’s mid-century with a beautiful brass patina. When I got the lamp home, I couldn't find an on/off switch, so the only way to turn it on was to crawl behind my living room chair to plug it into the outlet. To then turn it off, I had to climb behind that chair again. The lamp was so beautiful I decided it was worth the effort.

After a year of this crawling behind the chair nonsense, I was giving the lamp a deep clean when a metal piece on the stem of the lamp suddenly turned and clicked. I climbed behind the chair one last time, plugged in the lamp, and found out that the spinning piece of metal was indeed the switch.

This got me thinking. Isn’t this a perfect illustration of how I’ve lived my life at times? Me making my life more difficult than it needed to be. I’d heap expectations and “shoulds” on myself: what my home should be, how my husband should be, and how my children should be in a well-intentioned but ultimately foolish attempt to look like the perfect Christian with the perfect family. I would fall into the trap of trying to control my circumstances out of fear of not meeting these expectations and “shoulds”. This would leave me feeling defeated, disillusioned, and discouraged. When I fell into this trap, I’d end up feeling like a failure.

If you’re like me and have ever fallen into this trap yourself, Jesus offers us rest. He says, “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” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV). When we live under our own expectations and "shoulds", they become a heavy burden, but Jesus offers us a better way. There can be incredible peace and rest for your soul when you learn to take Jesus’ yoke upon you and let go of self-imposed burdens.

Are you living life constantly climbing behind the chair to operate the lamp, or have you learned to just flip the switch?