He Holds All Things Together
There are days and seasons where it appears like everything is crumbling.
Amid pain or hardships, our lives feel like they are collapsing before us. With weary minds, tired bodies, worn-out spirits, and emotions that feel like they’ve been tumbling in the dryer for way too long, nothing seems to make sense.
In the furnace of these trials, answers escape us. All we know is, this feels so hard.[1]
This might be how life lately has felt for many of us. So many things feel like they’ve fallen apart. Our plans, hopes, calendars, and schedules unraveled before us as the world shut down. For many, jobs, finances, health, and relationships were frayed or ripped away. In the wake of the racial divide and strife between political parties, everything feels heavy and wrong.
Everything just feels like it's too much.
GRASPING FOR CONTROL
As we seek to regain control and put things back together, we grasp with a fury as we try to piece together the patches in our life. We feel anxious, fearful, and overwhelmed by feeling like we need to hold things together; to hold ourselves together.
But Paul offers us some wonderful news. There is already someone who is holding all things together, and it’s not us. It’s Jesus:
“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17).
We’re always aware of the potential for life to bring a tidal wave, but that awareness doesn’t prevent the wave’s force from taking us under. After exhausting our energy to get our heads above the water, another wave smacks us and the disorientation sets in, as we scramble to collect ourselves again.
Hardships, pain, and trials leave us staggering with the same sentiments. How did this happen? What should I do? Will this ever get better? Why can’t I catch a break? Why isn’t God stopping this? The questions don’t stop, and life goes on.
WHO OVER WHY
In times like this, we might ask the why question. But in reality our hearts long for an answer to the who question. What matters most when things in our world appear to fall apart is that God stays with us. Above all, we crave his nearness.
For Christians who have walked through the valleys, they know the lowest low can be survived if God is near. But if God is absent (or seems absent), there is no getting through. Puritan Richard Sibbes understood this truth well. He said, “If we cannot rejoice in the world, yet we may rejoice in the Lord. His presence makes any condition comfortable.”[2]
“He’s with you even when you don’t see or sense it.”
There’s nothing more comforting than to know that “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (Isa. 43:2). Just two chapters before this, God comforts his people with these words: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10).
If you’re crawling through a valley right now, read those verses again, slowly. He is with you. He is with you in the valley and the darkness and the raging waters. He’s with you even when you don’t see or sense it.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
In suffering and pain, most of us don’t need all our questions answered. Instead, we need the precious reminder that God is with us and won’t leave us.
“Don’t just help people get through life’s struggles; help them see God as a very present help in the middle of those struggles.”
Too often when we go through pain or when those close to us are suffering, our gut reaction is to plead “get me out.” That might be a good prayer—and it’s understandable—but don’t miss the chance to experience the nearness of God as he draws near to the weak. Don’t just help people get through life’s struggles; help them see God as a very present help in the middle of those struggles.
When the news you’ve dreaded comes or the doctors still don’t have an answer, fall into God’s arms. When you’re disappointed with how life has turned out or when your marriage is shaky, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. When your prayers go unanswered and you’re tempted to stop talking to God, keep trusting and holding on to him. When you lose a job or when a person you love is ripped from you, don’t turn away from the one who holds all things together; instead turn to him.
He is with you, and he is for you—even when it seems like he’s against you.
FAITH OVER FEELINGS
We need perspective beyond our limited vantage point. We feel like everything around us is falling apart. It appears like God must not be at the helm. But feelings and appearance, though real, are not always true and are never ultimate. God is still in control.
“There is no moment where control escapes him. At no point does he walk away from his throne.”
The Bible reminds us that God providentially rules over our lives. There is no moment where control escapes him. At no point does he walk away from his throne. Jesus holds all things together (Col. 1:17).
Plant that theological flag firmly into your heart now so when life does fall apart, Christ’s good and wise sovereignty is an established fact and not a question. Lean into it and learn it in small trials, so when your trust is stretched in bigger trials, it might bend but not break.
Things around us might fall apart, but even in this, Jesus is holding all things together.
OUR POWERFUL KING
Colossians 1:13–20 puts our confidence in Jesus as king. In 1:13–14, the king rescues us from darkness and brings us into his kingdom at the cost of his own life. In verse 15, Paul says Jesus is the image of God. He is the rightful heir to his father’s throne, and he rules in line with the will of his father. In verse 16, Paul emphasizes the unrivaled authority and rank of the king.
Here in verse 17, he identifies Jesus as the king who rules, sustains, and ensures the well-being of all in his kingdom: “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17).
Jesus cares for and oversees everything happening in his domain. He not only creates, but he sustains what he creates. “[Jesus] upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). He completes what he begins. He is faithful to finish anything he starts.
“Even when life feels like it’s falling apart, Jesus holds everything together.”
He doesn’t give up on people, projects, or plans and move to something else. Jesus never drops the ball. That’s not only true in creation, but it’s true for you. Even when life feels like it’s falling apart, Jesus holds everything together.
His power declares that nothing keeps him from accomplishing his plans. His wisdom signifies that he knows how to use his power to best order all things for our good and his glory. His goodness and love assure us that everything that comes from his hand springs from the fountainhead of goodness.
GOD’S SMILING FACE
When life unravels, we can find comfort knowing that Jesus is holding all things together in his power, wisdom, goodness, and love.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break, In blessings on your head.Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.[3]
[1] One way we respond is lament. For an excellent introduction to lament, see Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop. For stories of believers finding hope during trials, see Storm Clouds of Blessing by Janice M. Cappucci.
[2] Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, reprinted 2008), 9.
[3] William Cowper, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” (No. 603) in Hymns for the Family of God (Franklin: Brentwood– Benson Music Publishing, 1976)
This is a devotional from Dustin Crowe’s new book Finding Satisfaction in Christ: A Devotional Study of Colossians. The book slowly walks through Colossians as a devotional-commentary, explaining and applying the passage in a Christ-centered way.
Dustin Crowe serves as the pastor of discipleship at Pennington Park Church in Indiana. You can follow him on Twitter or visit his blog.