Look Again!

chris sitting outside the apartment

Jonah was quite the OT character, wasn't he? I mean, really. When God told Him to go to Ninevah, Jonah purposefully went in the opposite direction. He deliberately disobeyed God. What a rebel! It's easy to say that Jonah found himself in the belly of the great fish by his own doings. Of course, in chapter 1 verse 17, it says that God prepared a fish just for Jonah. It baffles me as to why God would chase down a rebel. But I am so glad He did - because I know He'll chase me down too. I can be quite the mess from time to time. Okay, so maybe all the time. Lol.

Why does the story of a rebellious backslider encourage me so much? Because if God can meet the runaway prophet in the belly of a whale, He can meet me in my circumstances too!

In verse 4, Jonah says, I will look again to Your holy temple. I love that! Here Jonah sits in the dark, damp, smelly whale's belly, yet he's choosing to look at God. And God chooses to meet him there! If God can meet Jonah in the darkest place of his life - a place he ended up in because of his bad choices - God can meet us anywhere. To me, that means that no matter what my surroundings are - I can choose to look again at God's mercy. His peace. His grace. And He will meet me there.

Caregiving isn't really even a choice is it? I have been told by loved ones that I "chose" to care for my son as if it was a poor choice. But it's certainly not my fault that life took such a sharp turn and changed so drastically in a second. The good news is that God meets us in our "here" no matter how we got there - no matter if we chose it or not - He is here.

Today, from the darkness of my circumstances I will choose to look again at all that God has brought me through. I'll think about the time I thought for sure my soul was lost in the caregiving shuffle, beaten down, forgotten, etc - only to realize that God was sitting in the darkness with me. I'll remind myself of all He's brought me through so far. My thoughts will be on how His grace has not failed me - no matter how crazy my mind and emotions felt. I'll meditate on His mercies that are new every single morning - just when we need them. I'll look again at His grace that continues to sustain and carry me along the caregiving journey and I'll trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?

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Affirmations for Caregivers

Bookcover of Affirmations for Caregivers
I have created a video series on my  YouTube channel. It goes over the affirmation each morning. The videos are only a couple of minutes long, and the first one was downloaded this morning! You can get the Affirmations for Caregivers book on Kindle or in print from Amazon. 





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