Today I remember that God is a Sustainer. It’s a great verb! Sustain means to strengthen, support, encourage, and carry–both mentally and physically.
As I search the scriptures for this verb, I learn that the Israelites often referred to God as the one who sustains them. And in the Psalms, I love the way the writer reiterates that the Lord sustains. In Psalm 18:35, we read that “You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.” Psalm 41 discusses how the Lord sustains us on our sickbed just as Psalm 55 reveals how we cast our cares on God “and He will sustain [us].”
God sustains the widow and fatherless, the orphan and the poor. He sends help to those in distress and uplifts them with sustenance. Ultimately, I read in Hebrews 1 that Jesus “is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
We need Him! We need Him. Our circumstances might not change today; in sickness, lack of resources, loss, discouragement, anxiety, and real fear, we know that God is the sustainer. He will sustain! I think of exhausted new mothers who need to know this. I think of those out of work. I think of those with loved ones fighting cancer. I think of those in the battle of mental illness and confusion.
The Lord carries you.