“Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,
all you who remain in Israel.
I have cared for you since you were born.
Yes, I carried you before you were born.
I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.
“To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal?
Some people pour out their silver and gold
and hire a craftsman to make a god from it.
Then they bow down and worship it!
They carry it around on their shoulders,
and when they set it down, it stays there.
It can’t even move!
And when someone prays to it, there is no answer.
It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.
“Do not forget this! Keep it in mind!
Remember this, you guilty ones.
Remember the things I have done in the past.” Isaiah 46:3-7

We’re not on our own. The Assyrians invaded Israel around 722 BC and took captive a little less than 30,000 of the people, mostly the upper classes and the well-to-do: those who were most likely to lead an uprising. God spoke to the Israelites left behind after that destruction, who would be wondering what the future might hold, who might think that God no longer cared about them.

Even though they might not realize it, God had been carrying them, watching them, taking care of them since before they were born and he would continue carrying them until they were old and white-haired. There was no stage of life where God would not be present. They could not get away from him, no matter how hard they might try. There was no way that God had, or ever could, abandon them.

In contrast, the idols that the Israelites had focused so much of their energy on were nothing more than the wood, stone or precious metals out of which they were manufactured. How could God ever be compared to them? They were worthless, but God was valuable: he would always be there for them. We don’t carry idols any longer. But it is all too easy to trust in our jobs, our abilities, our technology. But if the economy goes bad, if we get sick or disabled, if the batteries run out or we can’t find a plug, what then? God never gets sick, his arm is never weak, and his batteries really will keep going and going and going.

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