Showing posts with label spiritual sustenance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual sustenance. Show all posts

Streams in the Desert

Overall the life of a caregiver can be stressful; and that's summing it up mildly. We can have so many variables in just one day that it would be wrong to say it's anywhere close to normal. And really for each caregiver the situational demands are so varied there's no way to compare those either. And just like normal people we have good days and bad days...I am pretty sure that's just a given with life! lol!

 And for those of you who are not caregivers, just remember that on top of the transfers, feeding tubes, incontinence issues, bathing, physical therapy and a wide variety of other tasks that must be done in a day - we still have those normal things too - dishes, laundry, cleaning the house and keeping up the yard!

 But there are those times during the stress and stain of a common day - that He steps in. I am not sure there's a way to explain it; but the peace that comes in those moments where we are so aware of Him carrying us through..well, it's simply indescribable. One scripture that gets close is in Isaiah 43. In verses 19 and 20 He says this: I will make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

These two things are so refreshing. I really like the road in the wilderness because it indicates a couple of things one there is movement - and we are going somewhere! Our lives can so feel at a standstill sometimes, but if there's a roadway in this wilderness there has to be somewhere to go! This is not the end-all! And who ever heard of a river in a desert? That speaks of sustenance as well as refreshing. It's God sending the extraordinary into a dry situation to bring change.

 Even though it can feel like we are living in a standstill - God is on the move. He will bring us the refreshing - as we wait on Him.

Body, Soul and Spirit

God created us to be a triune being, meaning we are comprised of three parts - we are a spirit being, we have a soul, and all this is housed in our body. Our body is the only temporary part of us and yet we worry more about it than the other two parts many times! Of course it must be well taken care of as it is the only way we can keep our soul and spirit here on earth.

It is interesting to note that there are three consecutive chapters in Isaiah that generally cover all three areas. Isaiah 53,54 and 55. Actually, Isaiah 53 covers all three in itself, but much of it is speaking of the body; or perhaps it is just that we apply it more to the healing of the body - it speaks of all three parts of man in this chapter alone. But in its general reference it is talking about literal stripes upon the physical body of Christ which brings healing to our physical body as well. (side note: just because we do not see our loved ones raised up in an instant does not mean God does not still heal....He just hasn't yet)

Isaiah 54 speaks more to the soulish realm of our being.It begins with a command to "shout for joy." It deals with many emotional areas: shame, humiliation, and fear. And God promises to comfort, be compassionate, and protect.

Chapter 55 speaks of our spiritual sustenance. God invites us to come and eat bread and drink wine and milk that cannot be purchased with money. He invites us to come, listen and seek Him. In this chapter we see that His word (Jesus) will not - did not - return to Him void. Perhaps this is also a picture of the effect His word still has in our spirit man today...as we seek HIm our spirit becomes the ground His word goes into and He will reap what He sows. (check out Hosea 2:21-23 and Matthew 13)

And I think Isaiah 54:10 sums it up well. It says for the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken."  His peace and lovingkindness are not affected or shaken by anything that occurs in the natural. The earth shaking until mountains and hills more around cannot reach His heart nor change His purposes for us. So rest in Him today knowing that He has not changed His mind about you no matter what you are facing!

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...