Holding It Together

I have become one of those old ladies who can never find her glasses.  After looking here and there around the house, I've concluded that I left them this morning at the beauty salon, where I went for a periodic attempt at beautification.

The point is, we have trouble holding it together at times, don't we?  Of course, misplacing a pair of glasses is mild in comparison to that dreaded phone call from the doctor:  "I need to see you and your husband in my office tomorrow."  Or, when the sheriff's deputies walk up to your front door.  Or, the mandate to "clean out your desk", and I'm not referring to a grade school teacher's instruction to a messy child either.

You know what I mean.

I guess all these scenarios are why I love Colossians 1:17 so much.

Here it is, translated from the original Greek:

And He is before all things, and all things in Him hold together.

The words "hold together" are translated "consist", in the KJV.  The Greek word for "consist" is sunistano/sunistemi, which is the word we often translate as "sustain".  So, not only did Christ create all that is, He also sustains it.

The First Law of Thermodynamics is the best-proved law of science, despite that scientists cannot explain to us how it is true. Basically, it says that, although matter can and does change forms, no new matter is being created OR annihilated, but rather it is being conserved or sustained.  Were He not to be sustaining all things, all those things He created in the past, the binding energy of the atom would collapse, plunging the entire universe into chaos.1

Does this surprise you?  We are told in Acts 17:28

"In Him we live and move and have our being."

It's so incongruous to me that scientists, those people who know the most about the observable, physical universe, are sometimes the most resistant to the idea of a personal God, a Creator of all things.  How in the world (pardon the pun) can you explain the marvelous intricacy of nature, apart from intelligent design?  I challenge you to study the Earth's rotation, revolution, electrical system, gravitation and atmosphere, to name a few.  What you will find is that if any of these deviated just a smidgeon or an iota, life on Earth would be vastly different, or even in some cases, non-existent. The Eternal Son, the only begotten of the Father, holds them all in His hands.

What does this have to do with my reading glasses?  Or, dreaded knocks on our doors?  The same God who holds the universe together can hold my life together as well.  He is not merely concerned about keeping the planets in place.  The Lover of My Soul is equally interested in the minutiae of my life, even those foibles and failures of my own personal walk.

Aren't we often guilty of this, treating our Savior as the Swedes treat their monarchs?  They respect and revere them, but don't really expect them to have any meaningful involvement in their lives. Here in this verse we are reminded of who Jesus is:  not some weak or flippant observer, but instead the Master of the Universe.

He is the God who loves to be "bothered" with us and our smallest needs, the God who delights in being invited in.  He holds it all together, even when we feel it is falling apart.  We can be assured of that and after taking a big, deep sigh of relief, then breathe a prayer of everlasting gratitude!

Lord Jesus, You are the Everlasting Son, the Creator and Sustainer of All.  I can rest in the knowledge that I don't have to "hold it all together", because You do.  You plans are better.  Your ways are higher.  You are Sovereign and All-Knowing, while also being All-Loving to Your children.  Thank you for this blessed assurance.  In Your Name I pray, amen.

Source:

1  http://www.icr.org/bible/Colossians/1:16-17