Upheld and Carried by God

It is a great tragedy children and even older folks can be viewed as "burdens to society," a concept never put forth in the word of God who values and loves all people created in His image.  Those who appear strong and supportive in their prime of life can be gone in an instant, and this reminds us that health and strength of people with the most robust constitutions are limited and temporary.  Believers are called to carry one another's burdens, but we are also called to carry our own load.  It is when we are unable to carry our own load, small though it may be in comparison to others, that we realise we need God to carry us.

Do you know God promised to do this for His people?  Even whilst they were in the throes of idolatry, labouring needlessly to find favour with foreign gods when they were established and blessed by the living God, He reached out to them through the prophet Isaiah.  Isaiah 46:1-4 reads, "Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle. Your carriages were heavily loaded, a burden to the weary beast. ² They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but have themselves gone into captivity. ³ "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from birth, who have been carried from the womb: ⁴ even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you."

God used a remarkable illustration to promise He would hold, carry and deliver them all their days.  The prophet described strong beasts of burden struggling under the weight of heavy carriages loaded down with idols that could not hear, see or do anything.  Where they were placed there they would remain and collect dust.  They would lose their shine as the precious metals corroded and the wood began to rot.  The weight of the idols was so great these bulls collapsed under the weight from exhaustion, and all their precious idols were taken.  God pictured himself in contrast to these weary beasts and dumb idols:  they perished in the worship of their idols, but God would carry and save them.

Consider the contrast between carrying a heavy idol of stone or wood and being carried by God to His intended destination!  A man took great pains to prepare a plot of ground or temple to adequately house the idol, ensure it was not exposed to the elements and did not tip over--and was not always successful.  God, on the other hand, lifted the burden off His people as He listened to them and acted for their good.  He was the One carrying them to safety, kept them upright and delivered them from destruction.  People guarded their idols which could be stolen, but no one could snatch God's people out of His hand.  We are called to be casting our burdens upon the LORD because He is able to bear them without being burdened by them, so great is His power to save and love for us.

Isn't it wonderful to know God stoops to carry us from the womb to our old age?  As recipients of such love and grace, let us joyfully walk in it no matter our season of life.  While we are upheld in His hands by faith we can fulfill our purpose to bear one another's burdens, for He is faithful.