As Often As We Need It

 

This morning, I found myself reading a familiar passage. Isaiah 26:3 was my mom's life verse if she had one. She had suffered a total nervous breakdown when I was born. She was immediately placed in a mental institution and told she'd never leave. I don't even know how many tranquilizers she was put on, and she was given the maximum number of shock treatments, which is what they did in 1960. God completely healed her and brought her out, and this verse became her anchor. She trusted God that she'd never have to go through that again - and she didn't! I read these verses often.

Verse three reminds us that God will keep us in perfect peace when we keep our minds on Him. The next part of the verse, which we often don't quote, says because he trusts in You. We get the benefit of God's complete, perfect, whole, and healthy peace when we keep our minds on him and trust Him with our hearts. Verse four tells us that In the Lord, we have everlasting strength. We have His strength, which won't run out or expire. As I read and reread these verses this morning, I mentally tied them to another popular passage in Isaiah. 

Chapter 40, verse 28 tells us that God is our everlasting God who never gets tired or weary. As we wait on Him, He continues to renew our strength. (v. 31) He puts no stipulations on renewing our strength as we wait on Him, so basically, if we keep waiting on Him - He keeps renewing our strength. He does it over and over again, as often as we need it. That's kind of like His mercies that are renewed every morning - for our sakes, not His!

Whenever we need strength, mercy, or grace, it's available. Actually, it's available all the time - we just forget to run to Him for it in our busy-ness. God is on the clock and on call all the time. He doesn't have office hours. We can come to Him as often as we want to and obtain grace, mercy, and strength. I love that about God. 

Today, I will remind myself that God's door is open to me perpetually. He is always ready and available for whatever crazy stuff pops up in my day. He won't shut the door, turn off His phone, or ignore me. He's available as often as we need Him. That means I can package up all my concerns and cares again today and take them to Him without fear of condemnation or judgment. I love Him for that - and a whole lot of other stuff, too. So, I will trust His strength to get me through today - will you join me?

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Now Published in Paperback!

I will be doing a caregiver-only video series using this book. In each video, I'll read the verses given each day, read the affirmation, and briefly discuss the prompt. Please grab a copy of the book and plan on joining me each morning in January. The links to the videos will be posted here each morning, you don't want to miss it!!

I finished publishing Affirmations for Caregivers last night! It contains an affirmation, a verse or two to read, and a prompt for a very short response for each day.  You can download the eBook from the Dove's Fire Ministries Bookstore right now and print it and and start today! The print version is also now available on Amazon! Check it out!