Showing posts with label God with us. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God with us. Show all posts

Just in Time

 

up in the standing frame

As caregivers, we never know what a day will bring. Everything can change on a dime in an instant. By now we should have adjusting to changes down to a fine art, right? lol So this morning, I was reading through Psalm 37 and verse 39 jumped out to me. Now, there are LOTS of great nuggets in this psalm, as there are in many chapters. It speaks of His faithfulness, His provision, His grace, and lots more. But in verse 39, David says the salvation of the righteous is from the Lod, He is their strength in the time of trouble.

I think it's safe to say that as caregivers, we generally live right smack dab in the middle of a time of trouble. We are challenged with the every-day. Yet, we continue to navigate it day after day by the grace of God and by trusting in Him. We can most likely disagree on a lot of things - but we can agree that it is His strength that carries us through each day.

He is our strength in the time of trouble - He is there right on time, just in time, right when we need Him! The next verse goes on to say, the Lord shall help them (the righteous) and deliver them; He will deliver them from the wicked, and save them because they trust in Him. What a promise! Did He have any idea what our everydays were going to look like? I'm sure He did - and does. And He still saves and delivers our souls because we trust in Him!

What an amazing, amazing promise! He doesn't say He will come to us to deliver and save us once it's all clear. He doesn't say He's there for us and has our backs as long as no one is looking. He doesn't promise to save us after we work through all the hard parts. He says in the time of trouble. That indicates to me that He walks right up in the middle of the mess - comes to us in the middle of the storm - reaches out to us in the craziness that surrounds us to help and keep us. Wow. He's not scared of our situations - and He's not speechless like so many can become. No fault of theirs - they just don't always know what to say to help. But God does. He whispers that He is here. No matter what here looks like for each of us. He still has us covered and He still guards and protects our souls - just in time.

Today, I will remind myself that He doesn't think our lives are too ugly, complicated, or hard to keep Him from showing up. I'll thank Him for His constant presence and watching care. I will also remind myself that He is my caregiver! He's the best caregiver we could ever imagine. :-) So, I'll trust Him with today - will you join me?



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I Will declarations book cover


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Everything - Everywhere?

 


In my Facebook Live devotions this morning, I referred to Ephesians 1:23. In the New Living Translation, it says ...Christ who fills everything everywhere with His presence. I talked about His presence being literally everywhere. We cannot get away from Him even if we wanted to. In Psalm 139, the psalmist said even if I make my bed in hell - You are there. Death doesn't separate us from Him - and nothing in life can remove us or partition us off from His presence. He fills everything - everywhere.

That may not seem too significant to many people, but if you've been a caregiver, you know that there are a few dark, lonely places along the way. The good news is  - He's there too! I sing Psalm 61 a lot - from the ends of the earth, will I cry unto thee - We can easily feel like we dwell at the ends of the earth,  a place far from normal...places others are afraid to go even in thought. But God dwells there - He fills that place with His presence too.

Where is your "here"? Remind yourself today that God is here. Right here. Right with us. I lived in an ICU waiting room for over 3 weeks when Chris first had his wreck. God lived there too. I saw His hand in everything. Each hospital visit - He's right there. When we return home (yay!) He's right here again. He's always here. No matter what our "caregiver's day" looks like - and we know how rapidly those can change - He's here. With us - For us - Filling us with Himself. It's a beautiful picture really.

He's not afraid of our days or our long nights either. He continues to fill us up with His presence. I'll be the first to admit that some of our situations can be ugly and smelly. (YOU know what I mean!) - And He is still right there. Man, that's a comforting, peace-bringing thought for me.

Today, I will meditate on God being right here with me. My thoughts will be on how He continues to fill me with all He is. I'll think about this long journey and how He's been in all my "heres" all along the way. He never abandoned the journey. Never gave up (and won't!). Never said life got too ugly, unmanageable, or uncertain. He just remains. I'll thank Him for taking this journey with me. I'll thank Him for keeping me full of Him. Will you join me?


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31 Days in Psalm 31 devotional book cover


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Be Still...Still Be

I meditate a lot on Psalm 46:10 which says to, Be still and know I am God. I even wrote a little song about it and lately, I've sung it quite a bit. Many of the blog posts on this devotional for caregivers are focused on just being still and knowing He is God. He is the one constant in the caregiver's life; the one thing (person) that doesn't change in what can be a very fluid life.

This morning I started thinking about this verse and my thoughts led me to how He is a shelter for me. He's the only place I can run to and find peace, hope, and unconditional love. My thoughts turned to running to Him and I thought, I don't have anywhere else to run to. Then, I thought, I am not looking for someplace else to run to. Lol. Even those times when faith is wearing thin and I cannot seem to find Him in my day-to-days, I still run back to Him. I do not have a safer place to run to.

Even in the thick caregiver's fog, I still keep running to Him. My "be still" and know turned into "I will still be...."

  • I will still be running to Him
  • I will still be trusting Him
  • I will still be seeking Him
  • I will still be looking to Him for strength.....
I will still be.... - you fill in the blank. No matter how dark the night gets, He will still be our light. No matter how treacherous life's road gets, He will still be our guide. No matter how stormy life's seas get, He will still be our peace. 

Today, I'm going to meditate on my still be... as well as His still be's. I will turn my thoughts to how He continues to provide, care for and take care of me and I'll be grateful. And I am thankful He didn't send me off on this difficult journey alone, He chose to walk it with me. Aren't you glad He doesn't abandon or forsake us when it gets ugly or hard? My thoughts today will be on how He will still be faithful...as I trust Him for one more day. will you join me.

Full Package Deal

This morning my devotions led me to the gospel of John and I found myself reading through familiar chapters. I've always enjoyed 14-17, they are mostly Jesus' words and each verse seems to be so rich. But today I landed in chapter 15, verse 26.

The New Living Translation interpreted it this way:  But I will send you the Counselor - the Spirit of Truth. He will come to you from the Father and will tell you all about me.  My Bible has a footnote on "Counselor" which elaborates a bit. It says: or Comforter, or Encourager, or Advocate, Greek Paraclete. Today - this made my day!

There are two things that stuck out to me, first of all that Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth which to me means when I embrace Him I embrace truth. I won't be looking for words that just make me feel good, half-truths or anything but truth as I seek Him.

The second thing is that there are so many interpretations of the Greek word, Paraclete. Holy Spirit is sent to us, but He also lives in us. "Paraclete" can mean one who walks alongside; and I like that. But Jesus says He will be in us not just with us. But He is also our counselor - helping us find wisdom to make each decision caregivers have to make. And He is our comforter - to console us on those days we can't seem to get a handle on.

 He is also considered an encourager to offer us positives when the world around us seems to be mostly negatives. I love encouragers - they can say just the right thing to keep you going. When I ran the OKC half marathon a couple weeks back, the road was lined with people who encouraged the runners. They kept offering words that motivated us to keep going when it got tough. Holy Spirit knows just what to speak into our hearts to help us keep our morale up and keep going.

And He is our advocate. We are our loved one's advocate - or one who speaks on their behalf for their benefit. Holy Spirit can present our case to God when we are not even sure what to ask.

So there is SO much in this seemingly short phrase - I will send you the Counselor. As believers, we have Holy Spirit living inside of us to comfort, counsel, encourage, and advocate for our soul's deepest needs. It's a full package deal! God didn't say that because we are caregivers and Holy Spirit might have to work overtime so we don't get the package deal. Actually He pours out more grace on us and wants us to know that Holy Spirit can handle us and our stressful environment. We have all of Him and He has all of us!

Today I am going to think about the all-sufficiency of God. He really is all I need. I'm going to let Him deal with the feelings of loss that oftentimes are associated with caregiving. My meditation will be on all I have in Him. Will you join me?

The Chase

  This morning, I was reading about Benaiah in 2 Samuel 23. He was one of David's mighty men, and these three or so verses are all we kn...