I Will Carry You

For Father's Day, hubby Arvo and I went for a bike-ride to lunch, and then decided to drive to the lake. We are always toying with the idea of a lakeside condo, and there were some we thought would be worth seeing. Lucky, with his old swollen joints, gamely trotted to the door. He cannot walk far anymore, so we can't take him on most of our adventures.

"Let's take him," I suggested. Arvo agreed.

So we snapped his leash on him, and he was overjoyed that he was being invited in the car. When we arrived at the condos we were interested in, Lucky came with us as we wandered the grounds, sniffing the wind. Water! It's been a long time since he has been to a lake.

He could not navigate the stairs down to the lake at all, but Arvo carried him down several steep flights. Then we set him on the sandy beach.

 

Without hesitation, he walked into the water. He stood chest deep, looking out over the water. It is hard to tell when Lucky is happy. His expression doesn't change at all, but his stillness looking over the water indicated contentment.

Time to go. Arvo carried him back up the stairs. When he settled back in the car, he lay down immediately. We had worn him out, but I think he was glad he had seen the lake again, and let its cool waters wash over his arthritic joints.

We will all reach a stage in life when we are unable to navigate our world alone anymore. We will all need help, sometimes to complete the most basic tasks. It is a humbling, and often sorrowful state. How wretchedly painful to reach that stage and be alone, without help, without love, without hope of any relief!

Yet, God designed us, and nothing is unknown to Him. He knew this is what we would all bear as our days on earth wind down.



Lucky trusted Arvo completely as he carried him. He didn't fight, or struggle, or complain. He quietly lay in Arvo's arms, certain his master would bring him to a safe place. I thought of God. So many times in life I have been completely unable to navigate the path set before me. Those times require that I trust God, knowing He will lift me with capable hands, and place me where I need to be.

Sometimes, unlike Lucky, my tendency is to struggle when I don't know where He is taking me, and I don't know if I will be able to endure it when we arrive.

Lucky was just glad to be with us. He had known only gentleness and love at our hands, so he trusted that he would continue to receive the same.

Don't worry, God says gently, I will carry you. Be still, and trust me. I will never set you down in a place that is not worth the journey.

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Isaiah 46:4 

Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.

2 Timothy 4:17

But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

Philippians 1:6 

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.