God’s Christmas Card #4: Government on His Shoulders

I have lived in Glenview, IL for 53 of my 60 years. It’s a small village of about 14 square miles located in the north suburbs of Chicago. In the 2010 census the population was roughly 45,000, an increase of almost 7% since the 2000 census. Instead of a mayor, we have a Village President who ultimately is responsible for overseeing our community. Without question, it’s a big job.

According to the same data, the State of Illinois consists of about 55,500 square miles of land. In 2010 there were approximately 12.8 million residents in our state, representing a 3% increase in 10 years. We elect a Governor who is responsible to the citizens to govern the State well. As you can imagine, it’s a huge responsibility.

But imagine being the President of the United States. You would have the responsibility to ensure “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for close to 306 million citizens. That represents almost a 10% increase in the last decade. As President, you would govern a nation of about 3.6 millions square miles and a budget of $3.2 trillion dollars. The weight of responsibility on the U.S. President is truly mind-boggling. Rightly so, the President is often called “the most powerful man on the face of the earth.”

All of the above statistics are impressive, but they pale in comparison to the responsibility on the shoulders of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He not only rules the entire world, he is charge of the whole universe, including what is seen and that which is unseen. Now that truly is a staggering thought.

Jesus rules from the right hand of God the Father with wisdom, power, and love. He is everywhere simultaneously, yet available to any one person in a nanosecond. He controls everything that occurs, leading all of human history to a climactic conclusion according to His eternal purposes. The Lord is beyond our understanding, greater than our imagination, and more wonderful than our deepest hopes. He is the Lord God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth. He is the First and Last; the Alpha and Omega. And He carries the weight of this responsibility on His broad and sturdy shoulders.

At present the Lord has allowed Satan to have free reign in the world, constrained only by God’s plan and purposes. Satan causes misery and heartache, calamity and devastation everywhere he goes. Although he is powerful today, he will be powerless on the Day of Reckoning. Right now things look bleak in our world. It seems that the wheels are coming off the train and no government official has an answer. That’s because they are looking for a human solution and not God’s intervention. Although things look dark right now, as Billy Graham once said, “I’ve read the last page of the Bible. It’s all going to turn out all right.”

Sometimes in the summer I go down to the shores of Lake Michigan. I close my eyes and listen to the waves pounding the shoreline. In my mind’s eye I imagine Jesus Christ out in the distance walking on the water towards shore; in fact, He’s walking and looking right at me.

I continue to imagine that He comes and sits beside me, opening His arms wide as He invites me to sit on His lap. As I climb on I nestle my head on His chest and feel Him gently stroke my hair as tells me how much He loves me. As the imagery concludes, He always whispers gently in my ear, “Steve, don’t ever forget that You are a treasured child of the Most High God. I love you more than You could ever know or imagine. Go in peace.”

Every time I’ve done this exercise I’ve felt the tears pool in my eyes and streams down my cheek. Jesus Christ, who carries the weight of the world on His shoulders, loves me enough to have me to rest my head on His shoulder. He wants to do the same for you, too. Jesus Christ is a gracious Lord, but He is also a loving Friend.

© 2011 Designed to Serve®