July 18, 2001
"Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever. "
Psalm 28:9
It's a wonderful and comforting thought that God wants to carry us. I picture a father carrying his child because they've fallen asleep - what a picture of comfort and security! I looked up a few other scriptures on this idea and found references to the fact that God carried the Israelites all the way into the Promised Land because they were so afraid (Deuteronomy 1:26-31).
"... There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father
carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."
Deuteronomy 1:31
Another scripture on the same theme but in this one what really touched me are the verbs that are used to describe God's care: shielded, cared, guarded, hovers, spreads protection and carries!!
"In a desert land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them on its pinions.
Deut 32:10-11
Sometimes on my journey through life and in working through things before me I feel wearied by it all, I don't have the strength to do what I need to, I'm afraid and overwhelmed by it all. At those moments I fear that God will tire of me but he never does it's his heart to carry me, support me, strengthen me, all the time, but especially in those moments when I know I don't have the strength in and of myself.