A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.
I've never had to do backbreaking work. I've never worked with heavy equipment. I haven't had to move blocks of granite or bricks. I've never had to work all day under a suffocating sun.
But I've had times when I felt like my back was breaking and probably you have too.
Working double shifts or two jobs trying to make ends meet, so to speak, and still not getting ahead financially. Trying every treatment facility to help an addicted child with absolutely no positive results. Hearing that a loved ones treatment for disease is not working and the word from the doctor is to prepare for the worst.
Some days we feel like our troubles are about to crush us. It seems our backs are going to break under the pressure of life's troubles and challenges.
A reed is usually found in a marshy swamp. It's stalk is so thin that is seems that very little pressure would break it in two. A smoldering wick is a candle that is about to go out. A person's thumb and index finger could put it out completely.
What a friend we have in Jesus. In Isaiah 42:3, God is assuring His people that He is not the one who will break our backs when we feel that we can't take any more pressure or pain.
Just the opposite. Remember these tender words from Isaiah 40:11 - He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.
Jesus is our good shepherd, the One who lays down His life for His sheep. It was Jesus who took upon Himself the backbreaking work of carrying our sins to the cross. In carrying out His Father's will, Jesus did what you and I could never do - work hard enough or be good enough or be righteous enough to earn God's favor. By dying for our debts and rising from the dead, Jesus lightens our load by helping us know that no matter how trying our lives our, no matter how difficult the news is, we have One who will protect us and care for us as if we were sheep on the verge of being scattered.
The words from the hymn make sense: Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge - Take it to the Lord in prayer...In His arms He'll take and shield thee; Thou will find a solace there.
Take your concerns and worries to Your Lord. Trust Him. A bruised reed He will not break. A smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
