Daily Manna · Day 96 · April 6
Carried from Start to Finish
“Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”
This looks like a promise for old age, and you may think it will not apply to you for decades. But the verse covers both ends of life on purpose, from the womb to grey hair. That means it also covers the middle, which is where you are, and where it is hardest to believe.
Look at what Isaiah sets it against, because the way he arranges the chapter makes the point. Two verses earlier there is a parade: "Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth." Bel and Nebo were great gods of Babylon, and Isaiah pictures their idols being hauled away, strapped onto pack animals. As the carts go past, he makes one remark: "your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast." "Carriages" here means the loads being carried. The gods have become cargo. "They could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity." A god you have to carry ends up leaving the country on the back of a tired donkey.
Then Isaiah sets God's words right beside that picture. God's people are "borne by me from the belly," and "carried from the womb." "And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you." Hoar hairs means grey hair. "I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." In these two verses God says five times that He carries His people: borne, carried, carry, bear and carry. The whole point is which way the load goes.
So the real question is not how old you are. Somewhere along the way you may have become the one who holds everything up: the parents, the children, the mortgage, the group that falls apart when you stop organising it. A night's sleep does not touch that kind of tiredness.
The danger here goes deeper than burnout. You may be carrying it all because, deep down, you believe none of it will stand without you. That is the belief Isaiah exposes as he watches the carts. People can wear themselves out serving a god they have made up, be praised for it, and never once notice which way the weight is going. The living God turns the load the right way round. He made you, and He has promised to carry you from your first day to your last. Bring Him what you are holding up today, and let Him carry you along with it.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 96 is Continued Stedfastly (Acts 2:42).