Verses that inspire

 Recently I re-read this verse in Colossians and was musing on it:

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17)

And this companion verse:

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  (Hebrews 1:3a)

Do we feel sometimes like the world is spinning around us?

Like we have absolutely no control?

Not just the wickedness and the bad "stuff" going on, but all the stuff closer to home, too. Our health. Our finances. Our personal relationships.

Does God really care?

If we have ever wondered about the say God feels about us, all we have to do is look at how Jesus responded to the ordinary people around Him. The love and gentleness Jesus showed is a picture of the kindness of our Father God.

The incarnation wasn't Jesus' beginning. And Genesis wasn't the beginning of God. He has always been. We tend to think of our world as a whole bunch of different systems that were set into place and now operating on auto-pilot . . . . that may not be true. I think that the God Who took such delight in fashioning all of the different flowers, and all of the different cloud formations, and all of the different human beings created in His image, is a God Who is attentive each day. 

After all, I get that feeling when I read those verses up there. I totally believe that our moment-to-moment existence depends on His sustaining power over every molecule - not just humans and events. We are safe, then, when we put our trust in Him! 

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (II Peter 3:10)

Did you know that the Greek word "elements" in that verse can also be translated "the building blocks of the universe"? 

Stoicheion. It can also mean "the atomic elements."  (Check me here, Caro, since you know the language! Grin.)

And the Greek word translated "dissolved" is literally (in the Greek, anyway) "unloosed."

It sounds to me like there's a time coming in the future when God is going to "unloose" the forces which hold atoms together. This verse, like the other two, seems to say that the active power of God is what holds every atomic bond together. And all of the other forces of nature originate with Christ and His sustainment of creation.

The Bible leaves no doubt that God does care about us. About the sparrow that falls to the ground. About the widow, the homeless, and the orphan. He watches over us with infinite, patient care. And the image of Jesus holding all things together in such a hands-on way is one that is so beautiful. And so inspiring.

Take comfort in the fact that the hands that were nailed to the cross are the same hands that created the world and the ones that are holding all things together. It may seem like our world is spinning apart, but God can be trusted to keep things together!