Words to Grow On

Archive Devotions

January 17, 2005

The God Who Carries

by:

Evelyn Merriam

A wise, white-haired woman stood to her full four foot five height to give her testimony. She confidently quoted Isaiah 46:4, "Even to your old age I am He, and even to hair white with age will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry and will save you." Her glowing reference to God's faithfulness all through her life would have been enough to bless us. But this was Japan and there were deeper meanings to her reference. In Asian religions gods are carried by their followers. All of her life she had seen ornate images, statues, idols carried in elaborate colorful annual processions and festivals to the accompaniment of drum beating and unison chanting. She was grateful that she had been introduced to the Gospel and had come to know the Lord, her God, Who did not need to be transported by human hands, but in fact carried her daily.

Sugimori-san sometimes did carry something in a procession in Tokyo . In her country which has a less than one per cent Christian population, she went to the street corner with others from her Salvation Army corps(church) regularly. She carried tracts and a portable p.a. system to announce upcoming meetings where people were welcome to come and hear about the love of God. Until her promotion to Glory, she also helped to manage the Yamamuro Memorial Archives which includes records and items from the earliest days of Salvation Army presence in Japan in the 1890s and traces the history of its persecution and victories. When we read in the Bible of the foolishness of worshiping man-made things instead of the Living God, we remember Sugimori-san's clear, choice testimony and life.

Ever know the relief of finally setting down heavy boxes or bags. Are we carrying other heavy weights - spiritual burdens? Jesus' disciple, Peter, knew something of the heaviness of failure and remorse as well as the relief and release of confession and forgiveness.   His advice? "Casting all your care on Him; for He cares for you." (I Peter 5:7)

Alison Browne struggled with the weight of fatal illness, yet wrote to God:

When I am strong

I will fight

And when I am weary of the fight

I will rest in you,

Knowing that you can carry me for a time.

In my fight

I will draw strength from your love,

For your love cannot be beaten.

What are you facing today? Something you're carrying alone? Never mind your age or hair color, or any other distinction; reach out to God in prayer. He will carry your load and you when you put yourself in His hands. You will be surprised at His capacity and resources. And your testimony, like Sugimori-san's, will help lift someone else's load too. "Even to your old age I am He, and even to hair white with age will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry and will save you." You can count on it!