“Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame…. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, ‘Deliver me, for you are my god.’ They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend” (Isa 44:10-11, 17b-18).

I recently met a woman who had once been an extreme athlete, now barely able to do the simplest of exercises because of an ongoing bout with longterm COVID. It got me thinking about the fragility of the gods we live for in the modern world: physical fitness, financial stability, our spouses, our children, our career, our hobbies, etc. What happens when our gods are unexpectedly threatened, or even worse, suddenly taken away? Let us not put our hopes in gods we must carry in times of crisis (see Gen 31:19, 34–35), but in the God who will always carry us.

“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place. Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none'” (Isa 44:6–8).