“The no-good hunks of wood are loaded on mules and have to hauled off, wearing out the poor mules – dead weight, burdens who can’t carry burdens, hauled off to captivity.” (Isaiah 46:1-2 MSG)
Isaiah first opens this passage by writing about false gods. He reminds the reader how man-made idols must be carried off by mules. They cannot carry themselves, let alone anyone else. Bowing to deaf, mute, maim gods will leave us deaf, mute and lame ourselves, carried off to captivity by our misbelief. But the Living God is strong and powerful; able to bear burdens and us. An alive God is the lifter of loads, not the perpetuator of heavy packs. He carries us, not the other way around.
“I’ve been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, and I’ll keep carrying you when you’re old. I’ll be there, when you’re old and grey. I’ve done it and will keep doing it, carrying you on my backs, saving you.”
(Isaiah 46:1-2 MSG)
Maybe it’s because I’ve read to much Laura Ingalls Wilder over the years, but I can picture it: our frail frames packaged with care in leather and down, strapped to God’s back as a prized child. The Native Americans carried their young like this, cinched tight to the beating, breathing chest of a loving mother or father. Always near, never far. In the center of the action but never in real danger.
What a comforting thought as we consider our strong God. He carries us on His powerful back, up and through every harrowing situation; compassionately, confidently. Where might we be safer than with the God Almighty?
“You saw what He did for you in the wilderness, how God, your God, carried you as a father carries his child, carried you all way until you arrived here.” (Deuteronomy 1:31 MSG)
I didn’t grow up with a dad who carried me. I grew up with a dad who spent the bulk of his life fighting his own demons. Gratefully, I was there when he made peace on his death bed. But not before all that battling did some damage to my own ideas about daddy-hood. Since my earthly father passed, my heavenly Father has stepped in, patiently re-educating me on what it means to have a Father. He’s been showing me how He loves His own just because they’re His.
I love this mental picture of being carried; wrapped securely and strapped to Daddy’s back. I look back at the past few years and I can see that it is so. He has carried me through, near to His heart, close to the fight but never in the crosshairs. He’s kept His Father’s frame in front of me, shielding me from the worst of it all.
If I can see it looking back, I can trust it going forward. I won’t be buried in losses, left in the debris, abandoned in the night. That’s not the Father’s nature. I am a beloved child, strapped in on my strong Daddy’s back.
O Father God, thank You for having us and holding us. Help us to look back and see Your Daddy-role in our story. Let us look forward with faith that You will continue to carry us as a precious treasure packed safely on Your back. Realign our idea of Father with the truth of You. Amen.