The Sustainer is close to those who suffer for Christ’s sake. We don’t often hear the word “sustain” in our day and age. Perhaps it’s because so many Americans consider themselves self-sufficient and/or independent. They do not want to admit their need of a Sustainer. But if you are facing an onslaught of pain, suffering, and trials, I have good news for you. There is a Sustainer for your life and soul. You don’t need to face stresses of life alone. A contemporary Christian song of a few years ago reminds us, “you don’t need to carry your heavy burdens alone.”

The Psalmist gave us God’s promise. David knew what it was to be betrayed and deserted by friends, to be beaten by the violent storms of life, but he also knew the answer for peace and victory. “Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22 NKJV).

What does it mean to be sustained? Some translations use the word “help”. But to be sustained is a much more forceful and deeper word. The Hebrew word for sustain is “kûwl” (kool). As I write this article I am wearing a t-shirt that reads “Cool People” on the back. When trouble comes can you say, “It’s all kool”? The Sustainer is “kool”. “Kûwl” means to “prop, to maintain, to abide, to bear, comprehend, contain, feed, forbear, guide, hold, nourish, be present, make provision, receive, sustain, provide sustenance”. “Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22). That’s kûwl – kool. If you’re stressed – be “kûwl”.

But how do we come to be sustained? First – CAST your burden on the Lord. Peter tells us, “Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you” (I Peter 5:7). Roll your burden off on the Lord. He has big shoulders. Psalm 37 tells us how to do so. “Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him . . . Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:5-8).

Second – CALL on the Lord in prayer and He will sustain you. “As for me, I will call upon God and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me” (Psalm 55:16-18 NKJV).

Third – COME to the Sustainer for sustenance. “Bless the Lord, O my soul; . . . And forget not all of His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction . . . who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:1-5). Come to the Lord and let Him sustain you with the sustenance of His Word. Jesus bids us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NLT).

The Apostle Paul faced intense persecution and suffering for the testimony of Christ Jesus. Many of his friends and co-workers deserted him. But Paul declared, “The Lord stood with me” (II Timothy 4:16-17). Whatever you are going through in life be assured that the Sustainer will stand with you. Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you. Confess Him as Savior and Lord of your life. (I John 1:9-10)