Showing posts with label battle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label battle. Show all posts

Do Warriors Get Tired?

Lately, I've been studying about David. Specifically, I've been reading the story about how he took out Goliath. Then I continued that study with how his men ended up taking out the four brothers of Goliath. I have a suspicion that David would have really liked to have done that himself but it didn't work out that way.

The story of how Goliath's brothers were all taken down is in 2 Samuel 21. In verse 14, Saul and Jonathan were buried. Then in verse 15, it starts walking the reader through a series of battles. These four giants were not taken down in just one battle, like caregiving, it just went from one battle to the next, back-to-back.

But David didn't get to "play." In verse 15, it says they were all down fighting with the Philistines but David became weary. His men told him he could no longer go to battle with them because it was too risky. As I read it, I thought David was a mighty warrior. He was accustomed to the battle. He never lost!  Yet he grew tired and weary during this series of battles. Even a warrior gets tired sometimes.

This really got me to thinking. What I got from it was that it's okay to get tired. We do a tough job day in and day out. Some of us have help and some do not. But like the energizer bunny, we just keep going. There are times when we don't even know how tired we are because we can't stop long enough to think about it. There are things that simply have to get done. But I'm like, If David can get weary - it's okay if I do too!

Isaiah 40:30 says Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. I have to say there have been many times I was weary like David, but the Lord lifted me up. I've been called "Superwoman" but it seems I keep losing my cape! lol. We must press on, for most of us there just isn't any other option. But we also must not condemn ourselves when we get weary, or when we get tired. It's part of the battle. It's part of being a warrior.

David said in Psalm 119:92, If your law hadn't sustained me with joy, I would have died in my misery. (NLT) Earlier in that psalm, he stated Forever O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations. (NASB) It's so good to know that even if our strength runs out, He remains faithful. His word still carries us, sustains us. And He has no plans of stopping anytime soon. And His word continues to ring out into forever, far enough to reach our hearts in 2018. Strong enough to continue to carry us throughout our journeys.

Today, my meditations will be on His sustaining power that never wanes or grows weak. I will turn my thoughts to the power of His word to carry me through and sustain me so I do not give up. I'll think about His strength and how I can lean on it more. And I will trust Him to carry me through this day I've been given. Will you join me?

Never Disturbed

According to Proverbs and James all we have to do to receive wisdom from God is ask. Sounds simple; it is simple. We can ask God about anything and ask for wisdom to deal with any situation and He simply gives it. How do we know we have it? Sometimes it's obvious as we will suddenly have answers to questions we were asking or discover the perfect way to diffuse a touchy situation. Those are answers. But James 3 talks a little bit about the fruit of wisdom. Or maybe we could say how we know we have it operating in our lives.

James 3:17 explains: The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering without hypocrisy.

God's wisdom is of course pure because He is holy and pure. For us this purity means to be free of selfish motives, jealousy and arrogance. We can't ask for God's wisdom to beat someone else or to get ahead of someone in a competitive nature. His wisdom comes into situations to bring peace - not stir up strife.

Okay, so I get the concept of purity, But peaceable and gentle sort of trip me up. As caregivers we advocate for others and sometimes - like when someone takes the only handicap spot in the parking lot  and they don't have a placard - it's anything but  peaceful! lol And from experience I can say that dude who took that spot would not say I was gentle with him! I speak from real life experience here.

And how are we supposed to seek peace (James 3:18) when there are so many people and situations that don't seem to respond if you deal with them peacefully. (I'm still waiting on supplies for my son!) It seems like if we are nice then people tend to not do their jobs. We have to file complaints, make heated phone calls and generally go over the edge to get things done. It doesn't seem peaceful being a caregiver sometimes.But you know what? It's okay.

Over the years I have found this underlying peace that carries me through even the roughest days - and the days I make rough for others. (sorry.) At times the caregiver's life can look like it's anything but peaceful. A good analogy might be the waves of the ocean. They are never still - neither is the caregiver's day or life. Sometimes a storm is brewing and the waves grow larger and more forceful and more difficult to navigate. But down deep underneath all the surface activity - it's total peace. None of the residents on the deep ocean floor are aware of the storm on the surface. There is no turbulence down deep.

I think the peace that God gives is like this. On the surface, caregiving is rarely at peace - we are fighting for our loved one all the time. We do that without knowing it sometimes. We advocate on their behalf, we call medical professionals with questions, work to make sure they have necessary supplies - and even do daily things like range of motion to ensure they are comfortable. It's never still on the surface. But deep down - God and His wisdom provide a sustaining peace that is never disturbed.

Today I am going to look deeper at the gentle peace He gives me. I will meditate on His peace - the peace the world cannot offer; and I will embrace it. Will you join me?

It is a Good Thing!

I've been spending some time trying to get myself back together. As if the caregiver doesn't already have enough on their plate - life goes on and sometimes it can feel like it's throwing repeated blows. Enough to knock many people out - but not the fearless caregiver! *smile*

One thing I've found many caregivers deal with is depression. Hey, caregiving is not an easy life and it can get you down. We can't say anything about it - can't always admit it - and don't always have to deal with it; but it can be a struggle for some. For many it is a constant struggle - that includes me.

When you are fighting depression, everything is heavier and it can be very difficult to get a positive perspective on anything. But this morning as I was finishing up my devotions I had something happen and I just started thanking God for the good stuff. At times, it can even be difficult to figure out where the good stuff went. But if you look long and hard - and if you have to longer and harder - there is always something to give Him thanks for. My thanks for today started with bank accounts that have positive balances. (Don't laugh - it's real!) I checked the balances and just said, "thank you" to the Lord. And once I said that, I was able to think of something else to be thankful for...and then something else.

Psalm 92:1 says: It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord! Even though many of the things that cause stress have not been removed from my prayer list, and are not answered yet...there are many things to thank Him for. I can thank Him for breath, life, food in my kitchen, my grandchildren who warm my heart, and of course my coffee! *smile* No matter how small it can seem - start thanking Him for something. Thanksgiving grows in the heart when we purposefully pursue it. No matter how small of a thing we start with - giving Him thanks for it will help us find something else to thank Him for and it will create a chain reaction of praise to Him. Try it.

Being thankful even in life's most difficult seasons can help create a positive attitude and it's a lot easier to go through the day with a positive attitude than carrying the burden of a negative one. And you know what? It really does always come back to one thing ultimately - trusting Him.

Today I will purposefully look for things to thank Him for and I will continue with an attitude of gratitude. My thoughts will be on what He has done in my life and not on what I feel is lacking. I will conscientiously trust in Him for one more day. Will you join me?

Because of the Enemy

For the believer there is no doubt that Holy Spirit lives in us and strengthens us. Ephesians 3:16b says it this way: ....be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man...Take a second to think about that. We are strengthened from the inside out - because Holy Spirit lives inside of our very being.

 Holy Spirit resides in us to give us the strength to remain in Christ no matter what the circumstances. And actually, our circumstances many times drive us straight back to Him. You may be rocking along thinking life is good and some tragedy or trauma wakes you right out of your stupor. We tend to start trying to figure out where we left God! Or where He went that this terrible thing has occurred. But He never moved. He is everywhere - all the time and will be for all time...even throughout eternity.
 

In an odd way, adversity has its way of driving us to Him. In Psalm 59:9 the psalmist says this: because of his strength I will watch for You, for God is my stronghold. At first I found this verse very confusing...is it  because of His strength? Because of the Lord's strength I will watch for the Lord? While that's not a bad concept, I do not think that's what David meant. He was in a very adverse situation. Saul had sent men to his house to kill him. They were outside his house watching for him to make one wrong move, just step out the door and they would end his life immediately. Saul probably sent more than two or three strong men. Think about looking out your living room window and seeing a few armed men lying in wait...for you. Then around outside the kitchen window are even more men...just waiting.  A quick look out each window reveals the same thing. It was because of the enemy's strength... that David was waiting and watching for God.

 David goes on to say in verse10: My God in His lovingkindness will meet me....It's because of the strength of our enemy, our circumstances, or whatever life throws at us - that we learn to seek Him. Not for relief - but simply to feel His presence. The relief doesn't matter as much anymore....we just need to know that He will meet us...right where we are. We need to rest in Him knowing that we did not sin to find ourselves in this position. The church tends to want to condemn us as having no faith. But only through faith do any of us realize that the Helper lives inside us to give us strength to face our enemy day by day. Only through faith can we really sit quietly waiting to hear His heart beat...we are still in this battle. We did not give up when adversity struck. We certainly found out that we were not serving God as prevention. We serve Him because He is God.

 So, today in the midst of the battle, with the enemy stalking waiting for us to give up or give in, let us wait for His strength. My God in His lovingkindness will meet us here...

When I Fall

Ever have those times where it just all caves in on you all at once? Emotions run away from you while you get sucked into the huge black hole of the circumstance? (maybe it's just me!) Faith begins to wane and it seems like there isn't a big enough shovel to dig yourself out....ever been there?

 What's the worse part of it all is how quickly the enemy can come in and start throwing stones of condemnation at us while we are down. He tries to make us think that we are faithless because we haven't been able to change the circumstance. The next step he takes us on through the course of logic is hopelessness..like it's never going to be better or different...and we fall deeper and deeper into the emotional despair. Then he quickly picks up more labeled stones to try to get us convinced that we are not worth God's effort...he attacks our self esteem...until it seems there's not even enough strength to cry out!

 And then the most amazing thing happens - as quickly as it all hits - He washes it all away. Maybe He uses a phone call, a devotion, a song...But somehow surprisingly and instantly He lifts us out...

This is where Micah 7:8-10 kick in.  Do not gloat over me my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord Himself will be my light. It's not so much about where we are today - because battles will rage - it's more about the whole picture. God does not sit up in heaven with a big stick waiting for us to show some weak little sign of disbelief so that He can condemn us and say Yeah, I knew you couldn't do it... And He certainly doesn't jump on board with the enemy to beat us down in those moments of doubt...He patiently waits for just the right opportunity to lift us out...

 We cannot give completely in during those deep dark moments that we feel so far away from the real world..even though we cannot sense Him at all sometimes...He is there patiently waiting for us to gain strength and sometimes giving us the strength to care enough to search for strength! But He is there...waiting...He is here...He will take up our case!

Covenant Renewals

Josiah has always been an intriguing OT character to me. He became king as such an early age and then the Bible says he did what was right in the sight of the Lord.(2 Kings22) It also says in the NLT that he followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn aside from doing what was right.

The young man vehemently followed God's law as it was revealed to him. And in chapter 23 this young king read the entire Book of the Covenant  to the people. And then he (in his place of authority) renewed the covenant in the Lord's presence.

Can you imagine if any nation's leader would actually take the time to read the entire covenant to the people of the land? I will admit that we are only talking about Genesis to Deuteronomy. But even that would be amazing. And then to have such leaders who would stand and say This is our covenant with the Lord and we will keep our end of it and serve Him alone....sorry for the skepticism but it is a nice dream...

 Let's just enjoy the picture from 2 Kings. Here is the king reading the word of God and then reaffirming that it was the nation's covenant with Him.While I don't see any nation doing any such thing today - we can each act as "king" in our homes and renew our covenant with Him. It's a covenant of peace and soul prosperity. We must remind ourselves that it is not a pact that ensures us we will get what we want when we want it every time we want it...But it is a covenant that says our God will (somehow) work it all out for His and our good in the end. It is a promise that He will walk with us through the storm...It is a promise that no matter what this or any day looks like - we will win the final battle and spend all of eternity with Him..

 Take a moment today to stand on His word one more time. Remind yourself that nothing in His promise changes because you are a caregiver. Your circumstance does not negate His promises or His covenant! Take a moment to say that His word is our eternal covenant with Him that cannot be broken. Let Him be our God one more day!

The Stare

  Do you ever just find yourself sitting and staring at the wall? It doesn't really happen too often because, quite frankly, who has tim...