God Promises to Carry You…

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.—Isaiah 46:3-4

Can there be a more powerful promise than this? Even more powerful than the comfort God promises to send, and we experience during our life? God’s promise spoken through the prophet Isaiah demonstrates his great love, faithfulness, and act of redemption toward his beloved. In case we have thought—as we all have from time to time—that we have gotten as far as we have because of our own efforts, cleverness, strength or ingenuity, God reminds us it is he who has borne us since before our birth, carried us from the womb. It is he who has established an intimate, conventional relationship with us, not the other way around. In contrast to the idols people fashion for themselves through earthen materials and philosophies, God carries his people; we do not carry him.

Through Isaiah God uses three powerful images to remind us how he carries us: a father carrying his son (Hos. 11:1-4); a shepherd carrying his sheep (Ps. 28:9); and an eagle carrying its young (Ex. 19:4). There will not be one moment of life we will be without our great and faithful God. He is not only with us, but carrying us through trials, dark days, troubles, grief, deep sorrows, shaking moments, disappointment, sickness; carrying us when we do not believe we can make it any further in our journey, when our little sheep legs have gone as far as they can go, when our dreams are stolen, our heart is crushed, and our hopes dashed. God himself carries us through life and into old age, until gray hair (or no hair); he has made us, and we will carry and save us.

We are never too old to be carried by God. No excuses need be made, no pleas formulated, no apologies for feeling the need to be carried. Fresh out of the womb, old enough to vote, with children of our own, old, and gray; we can climb into our Father’s arms and let him carry us.

Being carried by God is more than a powerful image or metaphor, it is the experience and actuality of a life lived in faith, of the one who looks to his or her heavenly Father for care and trusts in him to supply every need, whether material, emotional, or spiritual. Like the child who says to his mother, “Pick me up,” and she responds without hesitation, our God will not only hear our prayer but see our need to be carried even before we ask. In his arms the burden is lighter, the journey is more manageable, the weight of the world is lifted, the cares are diminished, the pain is eased, the wound is healed.

In difficult or draining times pray God’s powerful promise to carry you over your life and circumstances, ask him to do it for others when you see they are becoming weary and don’t have the strength to make it through; God is faithful, and he will do it. Let’s pray,

O God, our God how excellent is your name, how powerful and comforting are your promises over us. You have not only made us but carry us through this life; in your strength you hold us up and by your love you save us. May we remember the refreshment of being carried by you, this wonderful promise is always available to us, ready to be activated in our life and circumstances. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.