Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Take a look at some of these song lyrics:

Up with the sun, gone with the wind,
She always said I was lazy.
Leavin my home, leavin my friends,
Runnin when things get too crazy.
Out on thr road, out neath the stars,
Feelin the breeze, passin the cars.

-Bob Segar, Travelin' Man

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that dont know where its flowing
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

-Bruce Springsteen, Hungry Heart

The days go by and you wish you were a different guy
Different friends and a new set of clothes
You make alterations and [ a fact in you knows ]
A new house a new car a new job a new nose

-The Kinks, Do It Again

Leaves are fallin' all around, time I was on my way
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay
but now it's time for me to go, the autumn moon lights my way
for now I smell the rain, and with it, pain
and it's headed my way

-Led Zeppelin, Ramble On

There is something in us that craves a new start when things get difficult. The longer we stay in one place, the more mistakes we make, the more baggage we obtain, and the more complicated things get. Songs like these tell us that it is possible and preferable to solve these inevitable problems by basically just deciding we are not going to be subject to them. New jobs, new houses, new relationships and new friends can represent a clean slate, one that hasn't been marred by complications yet. The world tells us that if we just start over in these areas every time things get difficult, we can go through life and be happy.

Jesus understands the pressure we face and he knows we need relief from it too, which is why He offers us that relief in this passage. Rather than run from it, He says to stay with it, and let Him take the stress out of it. Once the stress is gone, the need to run no longer has its appeal. We are then free to stick it out and work to make things better than any "new start" could have provided.