What does it mean that God is our sustainer?
The Bible speaks of God not only as the One who made life but as the One who keeps it going — the universe, and the person praying in the middle of trouble. To call Him our sustainer is to ask what He holds up, how He does it, and what part we play.
Upholding all things
Commentators trace the sustaining of the whole creation to the Son. Nothing in the physical world runs on its own momentum, down to the body you are sitting in:
W. H. WestcottAll things serve His might. Stormy wind fulfils His word. The lightnings obey Him, and say, "Here we are." It was the wonderful truth that Jehovah "upholds all things by the word of His power" (read Job 38–41), together with the sense of His grace, that broke Job down. The Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus (Jehovah-Saviour) of the New, as Isaiah 50 clearly shows. The very beating of our hearts, the expansion and contraction of our lungs are problems that can only be solved by the same wonderful fact, "He upholds all things by the word of His power."
(Hebrews 1:3 in the ESV reads, "he upholds the universe by the word of his power.")
He carries what He made
The same power is turned toward people, and it does not weaken as they do. Old age, so often when human support runs out, is exactly where God pledges to keep carrying:
The Christian's FriendOf a similar kind is the comfort given by Jehovah Himself to His people through the prophet Isaiah: "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; 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." … The added thought of deliverance here greatly enriches the instruction, since it reminds us of the dangers of the path and the opposition of the enemy. But what does that matter if we are borne and carried on the divine shoulders, and delivered by God's almighty strength? … This then is the truth about our whole pathway, from the time we were first found until we stand inside the doors of the Father's house — that we are carried on the shoulders of Omnipotence.
A daily supply, never a store
God's way of sustaining Israel in the desert was bread that arrived each morning and rotted if hoarded. Writers see a deliberate design in that: He supplies enough for today and no reserve for independence.
Frederick W GrantThe manna was a daily provision for daily need. It could not be hoarded; if anyone tried, it bred worms and stank. So too we cannot live on yesterday's enjoyment of Christ. We must enjoy Him today. Otherwise our past experiences will only turn into corruption; they will feed pride… Constant dependence on God, constant drawing from Him, is what He appoints as the way of blessing for us. He would keep us with Himself in this way.
Handing over the weight
Being sustained is not passive. Psalm 55:22 tells us to hand the load over — and the strange thing is how often believers keep hold of it anyway:
A J PollockSome of us are as foolish as the woman who was carrying a big burden, and a kind neighbour gave her a lift in his cart. She insisted on keeping the big burden on her lap, so as not to give the horse the job of carrying it. The cart was carrying both her and her burden, and she did not realise it. We read, "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). Let us cast our care on Him, and leave it with Him, and not pick it up again.
That casting rests on something on God's side, not ours:
J. N. DarbyThe second point is the infallible faithfulness of God. He will never permit the righteous to be moved. Tried they may be, but He cannot allow evil in the world to prevail, and He will not. We may learn to trust through the evil, but in trusting we know the Lord will keep, and the extreme character of the evil only shows the more that God must step in — it makes His intervention necessary.
Support in the very hand that strikes
Sustaining grace is not the removal of the trouble. It is help given inside it, even when the trouble is God's own discipline:
Hamilton SmithGod gives gracious supports in affliction. If He strikes with one hand, He supports with the other. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27).
Kept all the way to glory
Finally, the sustaining has a destination. What God guarantees is not a smooth road but arrival:
Hamilton SmithThe road we travel may at times be rough, the enemy may oppose with his tricks and traps; temptations may abound, and difficulties arise — all these trials the LORD may allow — but there is one thing He will not allow: He will not let the feet of those who trust in Him be moved from the path that leads to glory… He has marked out the path for the Christian, and if we follow Him with our eye on Christ as our unfailing help, it will lead far into the depths of glory where He has gone.
Summary
- Holds all. The Son upholds the universe by the word of His power — your heartbeat and breathing included; the God who sustains you is the God who runs everything.
- Holds you. From the womb to gray hairs He says, "I have made, and I will bear" — we are carried on the shoulders of Omnipotence the whole way home.
- Holds today. Manna could not be hoarded; He gives daily supply for daily need, so that dependence keeps us near Him instead of living off yesterday.
- Holds your load. Cast the burden and leave it there — the cart is already carrying both you and it; His faithfulness, not your grip, is what keeps the righteous from being moved.
- Holds to the end. Even under the striking hand there are everlasting arms underneath, and the one thing He will not allow is that your feet be moved off the path that leads to glory.