When I was little, I loved having Daddy put me on his shoulders, especially if we were swimming in a pool. Maybe you remember a parent carrying you to bed when you were sick or had fallen asleep in the car. When Corrie, our yellow lab, could no longer negotiate steps, Larry had to carry her outside. There are times in life we still need to be carried.
God Will Carry His Lambs
The biblical depictions of God carrying us summon happy thoughts of peace and security. This image was first presented to me at a baby shower for my second child when the hostess shared Isaiah 40:11.
“He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young” (Isaiah 40:11 NLT).
Picturing God carrying my baby close to His heart and gently leading me as a young mother warmed me.
God Will Carry His Loved Ones
After struggling through some seasons of short paychecks, I believe God had my Bible app stick on Deuteronomy 33. Each morning I’d click on the app expecting it to start where it had ended the day before. Instead, it replayed the same chapter several days in a row. My hands were usually engaged by the time it started reading so I figured God had a message for me I hadn’t yet heard.
While singing worship songs one morning a verse in the passage finally opened for me. I saw the good shepherd with a lamb wrapped around His shoulders. God let me know I could rest secure in Him. I was the lamb He carried between His shoulders.
“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,
for he shields him all day long,
and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders” (Deuteronomy 33:12 NIV).
The following day my Bible app magically became unstuck and progressed to the next chapter.
God Will Carry Our Burdens
Most of us are familiar with Jesus’s invitation to bring Him our worries and burdens. He promises to take them—if we’ll leave them with Him.
“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’” (Matthew 11:28 NLT).
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:6-7 NLT).
When I continue to feel burdened, it means I haven’t fully released my load or I’ve taken something back. I find I must release some cares over and over again.
God Will Carry Us Through Old Age
Last time we looked at God’s faithfulness as we age. Knowing He won’t leave us when we’re old and frail or when, in the world’s eyes, we’re no longer as “useful,” provides hope and confidence for the future. He walks beside us to catch us when we stumble and carry us when we’re too weak to carry ourselves (Psalm 37:24).
“I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you” (Isaiah 46:4 NLT).
May we never lose our childlike faith. Our weight never strains our heavenly Father’s strong arms and shoulders. And one day He’ll come to carry us home.
God Will Carry You #faith, #hope Share on X“When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:3 NLT).
How have you experienced God carry you? Comment here.
Blessings,
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Thank you, Debbie! I frequently see God giving me buoyancy on the sea of life. If he were not there, carrying me, I would sink like a stone!
Paula, I love that image! I’d sink like a stone too.
May we have the grace to be carried rather than struggling against our Shepherd’s strong, protective arms!
Michele, so true! I can remember trying to carry my squirming son! Challenging for both of us. 🙂
Thank you for this encouragement. Many blessings to you!
Thank you, Boma. Blessing to you too!
Thank you Debbie. God carried us through about 6 years of our daughter’s Anorexia, from age 12 to 18. Praises to God that she began recovering between 17 & 18, had a first baby at 19, has had 10 more babies after age 19, and is expecting another baby (#12) in 3 months!
Wow! What a testimony. Thanks for sharing it with us, Janet.
Debbie,
You’ve chosen some of my favorite scripture verses for your beautiful post. I’ve been sharing a couple of these verses with a friend who was living her last days on earth with pancreatic cancer, but now knows her Shepherd face to face. And now I have been able to share one of these with her husband who waits to be rejoined with her.
Thank you for the love you’ve shared here.
Lisa, what a sweet friend you are. Those are poignant times. Your comment inspired me to add one more verse. He will come and carry us home (John 14:3).
Oh, the rest we can experience when we surrender to the Savior’s arms! Thank you, Debbie, for this encouraging post!
Thank you, Donna. Allowing Him to carry us makes ALL the difference!
There have been many times when I’ve had the audacity to believe I could successfuly carry my burdens without God. Thankfully, He has always been patient with my stubbornness and waited for me to come to my senses. Thank you for this message of assurance of our Father’s abiding love.
Katherine, haven’t we all? 🙂 We forget our dependence on Him pleases Him. He is the vine.
Such a beautiful thought from the picture of Christ carrying us. It is full of so much comfort for me. Thanks for the lovely message Debbie.
For me too, Yvonne. What peace comes when we trust Him to carry us.
What an encouraging post filled with God’s hope and promises. I have seen much of what you shared in my life-especially provision in hard times and dare I say, no in my “older” life season.
Marilyn, one of the blessings of walking with God through our lives is being able to look back and remember how He met us during different challenges. What hope that give us for our older life season!
Oh, Debbie, what a beautiful story of how your dad showed you how a loving father treats his children! That is a priceless memory –and for those of us who didn’t have a father like that – your share is priceless to us, too, for so many reasons. You wrote: “When I continue to feel burdened, it means I haven’t fully released my load or I’ve taken something back” – that really speaks to me today. I wrestle with the give and take-back–and lately–and today, I just need to lay down those loads I have re-picked up with the sticky-fingers of a still-learning soul.