December 1st 2025

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Colossians 1:15

Humor me for a moment. Go ahead and close your eyes and take a slow, deep breath in. Hold it for a few seconds… and then let it out as slowly as you can. Do that a few times, and then keep reading.

Thank you for your participation!

It doesn’t take much for me to get all ramped up these days. In fact, a teenager in my house recently informed me that I am super easy to rage-bait. It was said as a joke, but—I regret to inform you— there's some truth to it. Life is moving fast, the details feel endless, and my body has been sounding the alarm. I can bump up against my limits and suddenly feel overwhelmed, stretched thin, and painfully aware that I’m not the one holding the universe together.

But hope—real, gospel hope—is like that deep breath we just took together. It pulls me out of panic and resets my nerves. It slows me down and sharpens my focus. Hope invites me to look up and forward instead of down and back.

When I read Colossians 1:15–20, my hope rises. It feels like my soul inhales:

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

JESUS IS EVERYTHING.

 He is the fullness of God.

 He is the One through whom all things were created.

 He is the One who reconciles.

 He is the One who holds everything together.

Which means—you and I don’t have to.

The hope of Jesus allows us to remain steadfast and grounded. We can breathe deeply because we know the One who is holding all things. What a relief that it is not our job to keep the universe from unraveling.

So let me ask:

 What are you white-knuckling right now?

 Where do you feel yourself tensing up?

 What worry does your mind keep looping back to?

One more exercise before you go. Sit upright. Open your hands. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply again (you’re already warmed up). Then read those verses from Colossians out loud. As you do, remind your soul to look up. Jesus is your hope—and in Him, all things are held together.

-Lacy Wagler