Got Your Back

I was dropping my wife off at work this morning and as she was getting ready to step out of the truck she turned to me and said "I've got your back".

Her comment made me pause:  we weren't talking about anything pressing, no emergencies or crises, but her words hit a chord in my soul and it felt good.  Why?

Walking the journey of life can be a challenging one, and we all need to know that someone is concerned for your well-being.  At times burdens can pile up and it can contribute to a growing sense of pressure on your heart and mind.  At these times it is nice to know that someone cares--that someone 'has your back'.

But it's not just in the challenging times that it's important to have someone in your corner.  It is also good to be able share the victories and joys that come in life.  To be able to identify with someone else who is walking the same path as you--having the same conversations, seeing the same positive outcomes, knowing that this day is a good day together--nothing like it!

So in good times and bad, it's good to know that someone has your back.  But in this, like all other things in life, we are reminded that the context for our defeats and victories is what comes from the Lord's hand in the first place.  It is part of the mosaic of life that God has carefully crafted for human beings to enjoy.  And one of the main reasons that He did this at all is to remind us that at the end of the day He wants us to see these experiences (as wonderful and important as they are) as introductions to the relationship that will provide the ultimate blessing--our relationship with Jesus.

It is here that we begin to recognize the kind of strength and stability we need to navigate life.  It is in Jesus where we find our model for living the kind of life that brings blessing to ourselves, and where we see an example of how to live with and for others around us.  It is through Jesus that we begin to truly understand what it means to have someone say to us "I've got your back".  He did so in everything that he lived for, and continues to live for.

We may not always think this of Him though.  We may think that our ongoing struggles are proof that Jesus really doesn't look after us, that He isn't all that, and we might need to wisen up and start to realize that we're on our own here, so just make the best of it.  I might be hitting the nail on the head for some people in saying this, and for others I might be overstating it a bit.  However, I believe that everyone who considers themselves followers of Jesus have struggled with these thoughts to varying degrees and from time to time.

Here is a word from God that helps remind us that He really knows the score here.  Listen to Isaiah 40:27-31:

"Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?'  Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

In essence here is what God is saying to us:  "Why do you think I don't have your back?  Don't you know that I know exactly how you are struggling?  Put your hope in me, no matter your circumstances, and I will give you the strength and blessing you desire.  I am there for you."

So today, if it seems like you are walking alone, remember the promises of God Himself--He's looking out for you.  Trust Him and you will see for yourself what it feels like to hear someone say to you--"I've got your back."

BT