(by Pam Benedict) As many of you are aware, Steve & I just returned from an 11-day Holy Land tour with pastor and author Max Lucado.  Boating on the Sea of Galilee, overlooking Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, taking a dip in the Dead Sea; It was an amazing once in a lifetime experience and a great celebration of 30 years of marriage.  One of the many highlights of the trip was walking the streets of the Old City in Jerusalem. At one place near the western wall of the temple mount, excavators had dug through multiple layers of civilization down to the original first century street– the actual pavement that Jesus walked. What a thrill to stand where Jesus stood! Right next to that ancient thoroughfare, was the foundation of the temple mount. We gazed up at the 160-foot-high wall whose foundation was laid by Herod the Great in 37 BC. Huge tan rectangular blocks were stacked up on top of each other to form the wall and at the bottom was a massive cornerstone. How did these ancient builders move such large stones? Our guide rattled off so many facts and figures that my mind started to blur. But later I asked Steve, “How many hundred pounds did he say those stones were?” He replied, “Not hundreds, thousands!” I kind of believed him, but today I googled it and saw that the largest stones in the temple wall weigh as much as 80 tons, are 40’ long, 8’ wide and 3 ½’ tall. And sitting at the corner, supporting it all was the massive cornerstone.

Cornerstones today are more decorative and used to show the date the structure was built or to inscribe the name of the building. But, in ancient times, stone masons chose the cornerstone carefully. It had to be unusually large, strong, and flawless, able to bear the weight of all the other stones on top of it. It was the most important part of the structure and the first piece laid on the foundation. Without a solid and durable cornerstone, the whole building was in danger of collapsing.

As I looked at the cornerstone in the wall, the Holy Spirit helped me connect the dots to see the full picture. In Ephesians 2:20 Paul says that Jesus himself is the Chief Cornerstone. In other words, HE is the mammoth stone able to hold all the weight of the rest of the stones. HE is the foundation upon which all things rest.  He, who bore all my sins on his own body (I Peter 2:24), is the one able to bear the weight of my burdens (Psalm 68:19) and carry my sorrows. And when He tells me to cast my care on Him (I Peter 5:7), it’s because He cares for me and has the strength and substance to carry all the things that weigh me down.

When I try to take the weight of the world on MY shoulders, I collapse. It’s not a sign of weakness. I was never meant to carry that weight—He was! Each day I have a choice…to worry and attempt to bear weight that I was never designed to carry OR to cast that burden on His shoulders and rest in His divine strength. Overwhelmed with the state of the world? Give Him your grief and pain and trust His sovereign plan. Spend more time filling your mind with His greatness than you spend watching the news. Worried about your family or your finances? Tell Him your heartache and fears and trust that He loves your kids and grandkids more than you do. He began a good work in them and will complete it. Anxious about your health or future? Bring those anxieties and cares to the mercy seat and leave them with the Great High Priest, the Good Shepherd, the Chief Cornerstone.

The old hymn describes it well…

What a friend we have in Jesus, 

All our sins and griefs to bear,

What a privilege to carry 

Everything to God in prayer. 

Oh, what peace we often forfeit!

Oh, what needless pain we bear!

All because we do not carry 

Everything to God in prayer. 

“So, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone for a sure foundation, and the one who trusts in him will never be stricken with panic.” Isaiah 28:16 (see also Romans 9:33 & I Peter 2:6)