“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28
Is there anyone reading this whose view of life has become so negative that even when something good happens, the first thing you see is what is wrong with it? You hear good news, but somehow you find the problem. Someone shares an achievement, and you find the weakness. A conversation begins, and before long it becomes complaints about this person, complaints about that person, complaints about work, family, church, money, life. Waaah, huchosha akili. Some conversations don’t need an argument, they simply need an exit door! I get so weary of such conversations where 90% is just complaining and complaining. Imagine cooking good food and when you are serving, you say to your guest, sioni hata kama hii food iko na spice ya kutosha. Ushamaliza psyche ya hata uyo anafaa kukula, maaahn!
But beyond the negativity we sometimes carry in our words, there is another kind of weight we carry silently. Baggage. Heavy baggage from yesterday, from people who hurt us, from disappointments, rejection, betrayal, failed relationships, toxic workplaces, missed opportunities and things that happened years ago but somehow still have a room in today’s life.
And Jesus says something incredibly simple: “Come.”
He doesn’t say, “Fix yourself first and then come.” He doesn’t say, “Understand everything first and then come.” He doesn’t say, “Pretend you’re strong and carry it a little longer.” He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened.”
Come.
Weka mzigo chini.
There was a season in one of my previous jobs where I had a colleague who simply did not like me. The disrespect was obvious, the attitude was painful, and working in that environment became increasingly toxic. Eventually, through God’s mercy, I moved on to another job. I thought leaving the environment meant I had left the problem behind.
But I discovered something later: I had changed jobs, but I had not completely changed my heart.
I had carried some of that experience with me. The frustration, the disappointment, the bitterness and the suspicion had quietly followed me into a new workplace. And without realizing it, something that happened in my past was influencing how I approached my present. The person who had hurt me was no longer around, but somehow they were still taking up space in my mind.
Then I realized, I needed to put the baggage down.
And when I began letting it go, something changed. I became lighter. I could focus better. I could work better. I could interact differently. I could become more productive. I was no longer allowing somebody else’s behavior from yesterday to determine the quality of my today.
That reminds me of Genesis 19, when Lot and his family were leaving Sodom. God was taking them somewhere, but there was one instruction: “Do not look back.” Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.
There is something powerful about that story. Sometimes God is trying to move us forward, but our hearts are still looking backward. We keep revisiting what happened, who hurt us, what they said, what they did, what we lost, what should have happened differently. And while our feet are moving forward, our hearts remain trapped in yesterday.
You cannot fully enjoy where God is taking you while constantly grieving where you have been.
Peter gives us another picture. In Matthew 14, the disciples are in a boat when Jesus comes walking on the water. Peter sees Him and says, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.”
And Jesus gives him one word: “Come.” Peter steps out of the boat. Think about that. Jesus didn’t say, “Come when the wind stops.” He didn’t say, “Come when the waves become calm.” He simply said, “Come.”
Sometimes we are waiting for everything around us to become perfect before we respond to God. We want the past to make sense. We want every person who hurt us to apologize. We want every unanswered question answered. We want the circumstances to become peaceful before we move.
But Jesus says, Come.
Come with the pain.
Come with the disappointment.
Come with the questions.
Come with the baggage.
Come with the memories.
Come when you are tired.
Come when you don’t understand.
Because the invitation is not to a perfect life. The invitation is to Him. And perhaps that is the word somebody needs today: COME. Come out of the bitterness. Come out of the constant complaining. Come out of yesterday. Come out of the habit of seeing everything negatively. Come out of the prison of what somebody did to you. Come and put the burden down.
Because carrying what God is asking you to release does not punish the person who hurt you. It only exhausts you.
Forgiveness does not mean what happened was acceptable. Letting go does not mean the wound was imaginary. Moving forward does not mean you have forgotten. It simply means you have decided that what happened to you will not have permanent authority over who you become.
Jesus is still standing there saying, “Come.” And when He says come, He is not asking you to carry the old load into a new season. He is inviting you to exchange the weight for rest. So today, whatever your burden is, weka mzigo chini. You don’t have to carry yesterday into tomorrow. You don’t have to allow somebody else’s bitterness to become your bitterness. You don’t have to make every conversation a complaint department. You don’t have to wake up every morning fighting battles that God has already given you permission to leave behind.
Come.
There is a new chapter waiting on the other side of an old burden. And perhaps today, Jesus is not giving you a long instruction. He is simply saying:
COME.
