Skip to main content

He Still Comes

 


Do you ever just need a break? Haha - I forgot who I was talking to! Of course, you do! The real question is IF you'll get one, right? It's come to my attention that I may have some level of caregiver burnout. Little - like teeny, tiny, little things bother me to the max. I've thought about counseling, not sure if that would help or not. I've thought about giving myself a day off from "work." But I'm not really "off" even if I do that, you know? I have a few other workable ideas like taking a few more excursions and getting Chris out of the house more - because then, I get out too! :-) But I'm pretty sure I'm going to need more than one Saturday a month, although I'm grateful for that one day!

All of these thoughts and more were rolling around in my head this morning. I hope it doesn't come down to it - but I may have to actually ask for help. (Lol - imagine that!)

I know that God sees right where I am - and He sees you right where you are too. That brings a little comfort. I'm truly thankful that God sees.  I'm equally as thankful that God hears. He listens so closely that He hears all those things our hearts cannot even express in words. He hears the pain behind the tears we may shed - and even the pain behind the tears we refuse to shed. Yes, He's that close, that intent.

As I was looking for the verse in Psalms that says He is near the brokenhearted - I found myself in Isaiah 61. It seems He wants to send us to bind up the brokenhearted. He wants us to proclaim liberty - to whom? The captives? Wow. He wants us to proclaim the year of the favor of the Lord as well as comfort those who mourn. What on earth is He talking about? We need all of that! Who's going to be there for us?

I think we can get a great picture of God's heart in these first few verses of Isaiah 61. In essence, His plan (which is always better than ours!) is to move closer to the brokenhearted such as ourselves. Additionally - He wants to provide:

  • good news to the meek (those who know they NEED Him!)
  • healing to the brokenhearted
  • liberty for the captive
  • openness and freedom for the bound
  • acceptance
  • comfort for those who mourn
  • beauty in the place of ashes
  • joy to replace mourning
  • praise to replace the spirit of heaviness
Man, that's a lot, isn't it? I am pretty sure I can find myself in at least a couple of these emotional states - but certainly not all of them. But no matter where our minds or emotions are today - He meets us there. I love that about God. He doesn't expect us to dust off the ashes of our mourning before He comes to us with comfort. I can come to Him with all my baggage - my sadness, emptiness, mourning, and heaviness - and I will find total and complete acceptance and help. That's encouraging because at times I feel powerless. But the one who is all-powerful - will lift me up. He will strengthen me - even in this lowly, crazy mental and emotional state. Why? Because He loves us - we are His. He simply can't help Himself!

Today, I will remind myself that He is right here. He doesn't stay away when I am sad. He doesn't avoid me when I can't quite get it together. He won't shun me for questioning life in general. He will come. He will comfort. He will bring joy, peace, and freedom. And I'll just trust Him in the midst of it all. Will you join me?

___________________________________________________________

31 Days in Psalm 31 devotional book cover


Check out my bookstores. I have eBook devotionals, Bible study guides, poetry, and more in my Dove's Fire Ministries bookstore. My Amazon bookshelf has a couple of those in print or on Kindle.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ups and Downs

  Maybe it's just "that time of year" for me, but I've struggled a lot the last few weeks. I still affectionately  call it the caregiver's fog. Lol. Okay, maybe it's not-so-affectionately. I know I can share my true feelings with you guys because you get it. You understand the day-to-day grind of caregiving. The military has a saying about there being no easy day. I think we live in that reality. It's just not easy caring for another whole person, is it? Caregiving presents many difficulties. We can find ourselves alone, so very alone on this journey. It doesn't just go away. We don't just work through it. It seems to go on and on. There are lots of ups and downs - and that can be about every 90 seconds some days. Right? (smile!) As I've been working through this emotional maze the last few days, I turned my thoughts to Daniel. Let's take a realistic look at his circumstances because as we read his story in the Bible, we tend to glamorize i

Seasons Are Temporary

  This morning, I found myself reading in Isaiah 28. I ended up there because I was looking for something in particular, and even though I didn't find what I was looking for, I found what I needed. God's so cool like that, isn't He? My eyes first fell on verse 29, which says in the NKJ: This also comes from the Lord of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. I rolled that over in my mind and heart a few times and spent a few minutes thinking about how I'd seen His counsel in action in my own life. We've all had those times when we weren't sure what to do or where to go, and suddenly, an idea drops into our thoughts. There are many ways He provides direction for us. He may direct our steps through a passage of scripture, a trusted spiritual leader such as a pastor, a YouTube teacher, and maybe even a lowly blog writer. Lol. No matter how He chooses to deliver His counsel, it comes - but we must listen. After I had rolled these thoughts and t

Seek and Ye Shall Find

 Over the last few weeks, I've been trying to strategize ways of dealing with stress. It's something we all deal with, especially caregivers. I'm walking and exercising more, which helps the body get rid of stress and it helps improve sleep to some degree. But I've also been working on training my thoughts. I've been working on purposefully finding things to be thankful for. At first, it was a bit difficult because let's face it, caregiving is hard work.  This morning, I was plugging Chris into a nebulizer for a breathing treatment as he had an asthma attack yesterday afternoon after we'd been out for a little bit. As I was doing his treatment and his tube feeding, I didn't even really think about it; this "thought" just rolled up out of me. I thought, thank you, Lord, for carrying us through the long night. My own thankfulness surprised me! Lol. I realized at that moment that it's getting easier and easier to be thankful, even for the litt