Do you remember carrying your children around when they were young? I vaguely remember doing that, but I actually remember carrying around my grandchildren. The youngest is three now, and when he was four months old, I stayed with him for four months to take care of him while his parents worked. And, of course, I had to carry him because he wasn’t walking yet. In fact, he had just started trying to crawl when I returned home again. Anyway, sometimes I was a little afraid to pick up that little one because I am not always steady on my feet, but I prayed that God would help me carry Nathan safely, and He did.

I cannot imagine anyone carrying me these days. I am “pleasantly plump”, elderly with aching bones and don’t like to be touched much, not to mention carried. But the Bible says:

God is carrying me, in His heart and mind, all the time. He is ready and able to sustain me and rescue me, and He is the One who knows me best, since He created me. So, I am content in my Father’s arms.

Of equal importance is that Jesus is our High Priest and carries our names before the Father, right into His presence. Remember when Aaron, the High Priest and Moses’s brother, wore an ephod with the names of the twelve tribes on it. When he entered the holy place, he was bringing them before the Father. So, not only is God carrying us, but His Son carries our names with Him before the Father, letting God know that we are part of the family, grafted in or adopted as His children. What wonderful word pictures I had this morning in my devotional! I am old and gray…God is carrying me! I am a child of the King, and Jesus bears my name before His Father. How blessed I am to be carried, with no worries about God’s ability or stability. He is able and willing!

Do you at times want to lay down the burdens of life and just be carried away to a place of peace and joy? Then, imagine God doing just that. He wants to, and He will, if you will surrender those burdens to Him and allow Him to pick you up right where you are and carry you to a place where He can minister to you. It is in His arms that I find comfort, solace, rest and strength. I hope you find that, too.