He Holds Everything Together

Christ is the exact likeness of God, who can't be seen. He is first, and he is over all of creation. All things were created by him. He created everything in heaven and on earth. He created everything that can be seen and everything that can't be seen. He created kings, powers, rulers and authorities. Everything was created by him and for him. Before anything was created, he was already there. He holds everything together.
Colossians 1: 15-17

I love this passage for 2 reasons. I love that Paul points out that we were not just made by God but also made for God. I love making a sandwich just for me. I know what I want. I know that I like a certain amount of mayo. I know that I like the ham and cheese heated up in the microwave 35 seconds. I know I like to wait and put the lettuce and pickle on after the rest is heated up. That sandwich was made just for me. In the same way God made us for him. He knows how he likes to be praised. He knows how many loud worshipers he likes. He knows how many introverted quiet worshippers he likes. Marge and I were blessed to be able to serve at a church that was not AG when she was in grad school. For 2 years it was an amazing experience. I saw people come into this community church that were from Methodist and Baptist backgrounds. I loved it. I always found it interesting listening to people pray because they would pray one at a time. I grew up in a church where everybody prayed at the same time. You didn't just sit and listen as others prayed, you prayed out loud and were lucky to ever hear what anyone else said. Praying one at a time just took a long time and it was very reverent but I could remember going back to SAGU the fall after we left there. I remember sitting in chapel and hearing the entire student body praying as someone was praying on the stage. Even being spurred on by the person leading the prayer to "Reach out to God". The way everyone worshiped together was peaceful to me. To many, that would be disruptive. To many, it would be rude to pray aloud as someone on the platform was praying. What is cool, God made everyone different and he knows how many aloud worshipers he wants. He knows how many of everything we need and he wants. We were all made for him.

The other thing that I love about this passage is the way it ends. The simple statement, "He holds everything together". We try and juggle so many things. Last saturday, we had basketball at 10, JBQ at 10:30, a baby shower at 11 and I don't remember what else. Marge and I sometimes have to literally strategize with each other and even some of our friends on how we are going to get everything done. I look forward to Monday because it is my day off and everyone has a place they have to be. It is a ton of things to juggle. I am sure parents everywhere deal with this. isn't it great that the Bible points out that God doesn't juggle everything. He holds it all together. He has enough hands to keep it in place. He has enough ears to hear our problems. He has enough eyes to be able see every little thing going on in our lives. He is fast enough to be where ever we need him to be. He truly holds it together.