Wonderfully Held Together
Prelude: I am talking to myself in this writing. If you would like to listen in, keep reading. Maybe it will be of some encouragement to you as well.
I don’t know about you, but from my vantage point, the world is spinning faster and faster. Dizzyingly fast. At times, it is hard to hold things together. The image that comes to mind is of that piece of playground equipment we all loved, until we didn’t. Yes, you guessed it, the merry-go-round. Everyone jumped on and invariably one kid always yelled “faster!” Soon, it was spinning faster and faster and the centrifugal force was trying to throw you off, but you hung on to the handles ever so tightly.
Everything around you became blurry. The coins that you had planned to use to buy a candy bar from the apothecary flew out of your pocket and landed somewhere on the ground. After the merry-go-round finally came to a stop you were dizzy, disoriented, and maybe even a little sick in your stomach. What you ate for breakfast was dangerously close to coming back up. But soon you got back on that merry-go-round, once again going faster.
Due to the stroke I suffered in 2021, I find it challenging to hold things together. My brain gets easily overstimulated. Environments with lots of activity, oh my, not my brain’s favorite thing. Nor does it like sudden noises or movements. Change in plans and the unexpected create consternation. I am continuing to learn new ways to compensate for my neurological and cognitive deficiencies. It is a journey that I will be on for whatever time I have left on this earth.
Thankfully, though, I don’t have to hold it together alone. I have family and friends who help keep me from spinning too fast or too often. And even better, I have a God who, through Jesus and the Spirit, is the best glue known to mankind. Before I go further, can I offer this – with God the Father as the initiator of faith, through Jesus Christ as the implementer of that faith, and by the Holy Spirit as the faith energizer, we are in good hands, the absolute best hands possible.
In Colossians 1:15-20, we find seven “all” statements, each pertaining to Jesus. Let me quickly mention five, then dive deeper into the other two. Notice three right out of the gate: Jesus is the image of God and the firstborn of all creation (v.15), in him all things were created (v.16a), and all things were created through and for him (v.16b). These six verses end with two more: all of God’s fullness dwells in Jesus (v.19), and Jesus is the agent for all salvation (v.20). Just those promises alone should give us great comfort as we journey through life.
But, today, let me focus on the final two “alls,” both found in v.17 – “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Elsewhere, we find similar words. Among other things, Hebrews 1:3 tells that Jesus “upholds the universe by the word of his power.”
These powerful and true “all” statements bring to the forefront the supremacy, centrality, and preeminence (surpass all others) of Jesus. His involvement in creation is exhaustive. He holds not just you and me, but all of mankind, together. Everything in the world, history, present, future, it is all upheld by Jesus.
When things are orderly and when things are spinning out of control, or anywhere in between, there is never a single day, never a single moment in time, that Jesus does not hold things together. Right now, and always, even if it does not feel like it, you are being wonderfully held together. Let that promise of God penetrate your deepest places.
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