Over and Over

Well, it's morning, so here we are, starting a new day—one that looks like every other day yet oddly can change on a dime. Sometimes, it can feel like the movie Groundhog Day (which I've never watched, by the way!). But at any moment, everything can change, and it can mean a run to the hospital, changing things around because the aid didn't show (again), or any number of things that can catapult us into an emotional upheaval.

Since caregivers tend to live on the edge and not in the fun way, it doesn't usually take much to tip us emotionally. Seriously, it's barely past eight o'clock and I'm digging down deep to find a way to let His peace reign over my racing thoughts and tight emotions. But you know what? He gets me. He gets us. He sees it all, down to every nagging little thing digging at the peace He put in our hearts.

So, what's a caregiver to do? When things roll over us and wash out our emotions over and over - we just keep running to Him over and over, too.

I think David had that figured out. This morning, I took another walk through Psalm 31and David declared three times that his trust was in the Lord. Yet he wrote this psalm while hiding in a cave because Saul was in hot pursuit. David kept coming back to trusting God over and over again - and we can do it every day, too. Something new comes up - package it up, hand it to God, and declare that you are going to trust Him with it. Something old rares its ugly head. That's okay. Package it up, hand it to God, and declare your trust in Him again. As a matter of fact - we can put this process on automatic wash, rinse, and repeat cycle.

God will not get tired of us. He will not send us away. We will not wear out our welcome in His house. He won't scold us for bringing the same thing to Him over and over in a day, an hour, or a minute. Instead, He welcomes us over and over again. He takes our worries over and over again - as much as we can give it to Him. God won't tell us we reached our daily limit. He simply meets us right where we are over and over. That's what I love about Him.

Today, I will just keep bringing Him my concerns. I'll bring the old ones, the new ones, the in-between ones, and I'll keep handing them to Him in prayer until my brain registers that He's got me! My declaration for today will be that I will trust in Him. I'll trust His mercy. I'll trust His all-sufficient grace. I'll trust that He has me and will carry me as needed through this day. And I think I'll let Him! Will you join me?

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Book of the Week!

Making of a Leader is the book of the week this week. It's a short course for Christian leaders, or for anyone who just wants to grow. 500 copies have already been translated into Urdu and distributed to churches in Pakistan, and we're moving toward a second printing! The eBook is available on the Dove's Fire Ministries Bookstore website. You can also get a print version or Kindle version from my Amazon bookstore.