Dear One,
We’re all holding something. And the longer we hold a thing the heavier it becomes. Even a pillar is prone to collapse.
Do you feel it? Let’s just name there’s a lot of weight to bear these days, and we’ve been bearing it a little too long. It’s getting heavy, yes?
God says:
“When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.”
Psalm 75:3
That’s good news for pillars!! In Ellicott’s Commentary I read this means God “adjusts the pillars as to make them equal to the weight they have to bear.”
Equal to, not lesser than. Yes, please. When my knees are buckling and my arms grow weak, when I can’t stand straight under the pressing weight, I know I’m in need of one of God’s adjustments.
One arrived just this week. Sweet somethings from Spirit that strengthened me. It went like this:
Dear Pillar,
It rests on you. But it doesn’t all rest on you. As you bear it, I bear you. Dear Pillar, you’re not alone in this. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you” (Isaiah 41:10). Dear Pillar, you are not alone. This isn’t all on you.
The biggest adjustment was in Spirit’s opening line to me, and thanks be to God because I can forget that truth and play Lone Ranger. But the reality is, I need help with all the holding, and I need to be held up, too.
Friend, when we can’t change what we’re holding we may be able to change how we’re holding it, and to do so for the welfare of all. Take Moses for example. In Exodus 18, we find his father-in-law Jethro warning him he’d wear out. “This is way too much,” Jethro said. Then he went on to suggest adjustments (just like God), telling Moses if he implemented them he would “be able to stand the strain.”
Jethro suggested adjustments that would make Moses equal to the way-too-much-weight he had to bear. This wise one seemed to know that even pillars are prone to collapse.
Dear Pillar, I see you. I know it’s heavy. What might help with the holding?
Help to Hold: Our Little Life Words of the week.
DEEPER DIVE
Ponder:
- How are you holding up?
- What adjustments need to, or can be made in your:
- Thinking
- Relating
- Schedule
- Strategies
- Boundaries
- Behaviors
- What might a wise one (like Jethro or Jesus) tell you?
Practice:
- Choose one of the above adjustments and implement it.
- Meet with a counselor, spiritual director, or trusted friend to address the adjustments that may be needed. Because friend, we know, even a pillar is prone to collapse.
Play:
- Our song of the week is: Heaven Help Me by Zach Williams.
Pray:
- Dear God, help me with the holding.