Promises, Promises
I've come to realize that some huge pieces of our Bible stories are missing. I'm mean think about it. I can read the story of Joseph in just a few minutes. But he lived it for a lifetime, right? We have no record of how he dealt with the long, dark days in prison. Did he pray? Did he grieve? We understand grief on many levels as caregivers! Did he wonder about his brothers, or his dad? Did he think about the promise God had given him in those dreams all those years before? Did he think he was going to die? Who knows?
All we know is that God gave Joseph a prophetic dream with a promise. But He forgot to fill in the middle portions. God did the same thing to Moses. He told Moses to go get the Children of Israel out of bondage. He forgot to tell Moses that he was going to be leading the crankiest, whiniest people for years across the desert.
There are tons of other stories. Like when Jesus calmed the storm for the disciples who were in the boat. Jesus did tell them to go to the other side. He just conveniently left out the fact that a storm was coming. That He'd come to them walking on the water - important details that got no mention at all! Lol.
Isn't it the in-between that makes it so difficult? But that gives God plenty of time to work the spiritual kinks out of us, right? It took 40 years of desert travel for the Children of Israel to learn to trust God and to lay aside their slavery mindsets.
Maybe it took Joseph all those years in a prison cell (without modern plumbing or the internet!) to truly forgive and work through his emotions.
What about us? Isn't God still working on us, too? Maybe we feel like we are in the desert following the promise. Or it can feel like we are traveling across the dry desert with no idea what may be around the next bend.
No matter what, we can determine one thing to help us navigate the rough passages. Our goal is to just continue to trust Him, no matter what life throws at us. We can trust that He had a path planned before the journey began. Part of that plan is to never leave us. Part of His plan is to carry us as needed. He will make paths in the wilderness, and send water in the driest times. I love that about God!
So, maybe today, we are living through some things we didn't plan. I don't know about you, but I didn't have caregiving on my vision board ever! But God planned a path through our struggles before they ever began. He planned to stay with us in the middle of the darkest, toughest spots of life. I love that about Him, too!
Today, I'll remind myself that the parts of this journey I could have never seen or dreamed about - are not hidden from God. He already knows. He knew we would be in the thick middle of it right now - and He planned to be with us! How cool is that! I love that He won't bail when it gets tough. He won't throw up His hands or shake His head in disbelief. Instead, He's more like - just watch this! Today, I'm watching Him to see just how He makes a way for me as I trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?
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Affirmations for Caregivers
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