God Sees What You Carry

For the hearts carrying more than they say out loud.

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, my thoughts go to the people who are quietly breathing a sigh of relief that it’s over. Some households were full of warmth and laughter, but the chaos of loud voices and screaming kids was too much. Many others were filled with complicated emotions, unspoken tension, or empty chairs. Holidays have a way of stirring up what we’ve been trying to shove into the closet throughout the year. Some feel the weight of what they wish they had. Some carry a deep sadness that no amount of celebration seems to erase. Others are reminded of what they’ve lost. It is in these days after the holiday that the truth of Psalm 34:18 becomes even more precious.

God truly sees what we carry.

For many, this is the first season without a loved one, someone close who passed away at the end of their life, or from a complication of the COVID-19 jab: myocarditis, blood clots (pulmonary embolism, stroke), or a turbo cancer.

While these statistics are not comforting, it might be helpful to know you’re not alone. According to conservative actuarial and surveillance models, the global death toll from the COVID-19 injections is at least 8 million people, but more realistically, there may be as many as 15 and 20 million lives lost globally. This makes it the deadliest medical intervention in modern history—yet regulatory agencies and mainstream media remain silent.

God is with you in the moments you hold yourself together because someone else needs you to be strong. He hears the prayers you whisper when the room is dark and still. He is with you when memories and tears surface at inopportune times. These are the times and places where God is the closest. Pain does not repel Him. Weariness does not offend Him. Even the silent ache in the soul, the one we don’t articulate to others, we need to share with Him and invite Him to comfort, heal, and restore us.

As I reflect on this year, I understand that kind of weight. My schedule has been overly full, and the transitions have been constant. There were days I felt stretched beyond what I thought I could bear. I really had no one to help or to lean on; I had to carry on alone. Leaning into the Lord was a necessity and a respite. I have learned that the Lord meets me at the end of my strength and at the moments when I am ready to throw in the towel. He sees the sacrifices I have made, and He sees the sacrifices you make too, working hard to do His Will and His Work. He sees the disappointments that we simply move past because there is no time to sit and ponder them. He reminds us that He is present in our victories and in our defeats. He is always closer than our next breath.

If you walked through this holiday with a mixture of gratitude and grief, or joy and sadness, I want you to know that God has been with you every step of the way. He is near to the brokenhearted. He is near the ones who appear strong on the outside but feel completely broken and weary on the inside. The Lord is close to those who feel crushed in spirit, not because you have failed, but because you kept walking while carrying more than anyone realizes.

Today’s Prayer:

Father, thank You for being near to the hearts that feel heavy and worn from the weight of life. Bring comfort to every reader who needs Your presence today. Remind them that their burdens are seen and held by You. Heal the places that ache. Strengthen the places that feel irreparably broken. Surround them with Your peace and let Your love give them strength for the rest of the Holiday season. Keep their hearts and minds focus on what matters: the celebration of the birth of your Son. Nothing else is really important. Thank you for all things that bring us closer to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.