Isaiah 46.1b, 4 1b The
images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary.
4 Even to your old
age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I
will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. – God
In Isaiah 48.22 it says, “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” The word peace can also mean rest. Either way, the ways of the wicked are burdensome. They have to carry their own images and idols because
those images and idols cannot carry themselves. I read this and thought: god portage – having to carry my own god.
In life, I’ve had to carry enough of my own stuff. I’ve
never had to carry God, but I’m sure He’s put in His time carrying me. The
thought of bearing my own god struck me as ridiculous this morning. Of all the
crap I’m facing, I’ve got to carry you as well!? If you’re such a god, carry yourself!
Gods are supposed to do the heavy lifting. Gods are
supposed to ease the burdens of men. The problem with gods is they are usually
of our own making, and thereby need someone to carry their sorry butts. On top
of all the worship and whining, my little ol’ gods demand I carry them as well.
Yeesh!
But Isaiah said just three verses later: Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he,
I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will
sustain you and I will rescue you. (Is. 46.4) Now that sounds better. I’m
into a God who will carry me when I need carried (and that’s just about all of
the time!) I think about older age and I don’t see a very pretty picture. I’m
gonna hang onto this promise.
I don’t need to carry around God, I need Him to carry me –
I’m stupid and foolish and prone to knee-jerking. I need Someone to help me
when I do such foolishness. And I need to depend on Someone who will help me in
my older days, the days of my frailty. I want to be carried, not because I am lazy,
but because I need it. Thank You God that
You’ve promised!
We’re not to live in the future but we’re to respect the
fact that day after day it gets closer and closer. We’re to live in the moment
and trust God for the next one. Fear can creep in and get us all wound up about
thoughts of the future, but Jesus calls us to trust Him in our present moment. I think He said
something like: Therefore do not worry
about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough
trouble of its own. (Matt. 6.34) Sounds like good advice to me.
I have two choices: I can carry around the little god of
my own making, or I can allow God to carry me. I can worry about tomorrow, or,
I can live in the moment and allow God to take care of my tomorrows; the choice
is mine. Today, I’m about choiced-out:
I need God. I need God to accept all of my cares because He cares about me. And
He gives favor to the humble. Boy! Do I need that!
Father in Heaven,
thank You for Your promises to keep me and carry me in my old age. I really
need some of that right now; we’ll meet the gray days when they get here. Lord
keep me from worry – which is sin. Help me to be grateful in the moment and
trusting about the future; You’ve got my bases covered! - Amen
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