Holding Things Together

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

Colossians 1:17

We sometimes hear this phrase, "I'm holding things together." By it, of course, we mean that our lives are not falling apart. We are doing alright, if only just. The illusion that this suspends in the air before us is our own importance. We may make this statement, or some variant of it, with the best of intentions. We think of our family, our friends, our work, our commitments, our mortgage, our responsibilities, our church, and we reflect on it all and think we are doing a fine job of keeping it all together. The trouble? We are not keeping it together. This illusion makes us the center of the center of everything. It reduces God to: "a good help to call in if things look shaky", but basically it is all about us.

We often think of self-centered people as the ones who act in their own interests all of the time. We think that the selfish person is the one who takes the last of the turkey before everyone has eaten, however there is another, more insidious self-centeredness that may look far more attractive to others. The busy-body, the workaholic, the people pleaser, the super-mover, the temptation to be self-centered in this way may be just as great or greater than all other temptations combined.

How would life change if, when we were most tempted to see ourselves as the center of the world, we were able to turn our eyes upon the One who actually does hold all things together? Remembering that gravity exists at His behest, and the planets swim through space in their orbit by His will, should readjust our skewed view of reality. Realizing afresh that it is not all about us, but that it is all about Him, is the medicine our weary soul needs when we think we are "just holding together" or when it all seems to be falling apart. Taking responsibility for things that are not ours to control is a sure fire path to frustration and pain, resting in Him is our hope.