Daily Devotions for Caregivers: Fear Not - You Worm...?

Daily Devotions for Caregivers: Fear Not - You Worm...?: I was reading along this morning and found a great scripture that contains a wonderful piece of instruction to Jacob: fear not. I let my ey...

Fear Not - You Worm...?

I was reading along this morning and found a great scripture that contains a wonderful piece of instruction to Jacob: fear not. I let my eyes rest on those two little words for a few seconds as I thought about how many fears I face almost every day. (I'm afraid I'll do something wrong while caring for my son, afraid I am not stretching him enough, afraid I'll drop him, afraid I won't stay on top of my growing work load, afraid I'll gain more weight, afraid I won't get to run soon enough....got the idea? 'cause I can go on!!)

 Fear not. Simple, but complex, isn't it? It's easy to say - but difficult to do. Just help me find the button to turn my thoughts off for a minute and maybe I can shut down the fears that come with the situation. I really don't think it's the deepest sense of the word, fear. Sometimes it's healthy to be afraid. Like when you are going to cross the road on foot and there is traffic. It's actually a good thing to be afraid of stepping out in front of a truck! And these lower level nagging fears are not like being consumed with an abnormal fear of what some would call silly things. It's okay to have the sort of fear that brings you some concern. We pay better attention to life that way.

 But here in Isaiah 41:14 - God speaks directly to Jacob (who's been dead for years) through Isaiah the prophet when He says, "Fear not, you worm Jacob." Yeah, I know - I read it several times and in several different versions but they all say "you worm" too.I mean, how low can you go? lol!

 I really don't have some deep theological interpretation for this...honestly, I don't have a clue! But here's what I think about this phrase. It is a stark reminder that He is God...and we are not. And since He is God (and we are not) we do not have to fear from our low position. Just humbly give ourselves to Him again today....then fear not.

In the Seeking...

Caregiving is an endless job and it does not take long to feel safely isolated away from the rest of the world. There seems to be times that I want to withdraw on purpose and live safely in my cave. Some of those times can be a good thing, allowing me to gather my thoughts and emotions so that I do not explode on anyone negatively should I have contact with the "outside world."

 But there always comes the times to emerge...it's almost like a fresh new start on a very strange level. There are times the isolation of caregivers is good and there are times that the world is a real place for us once again. Either place can be the right place for the moment, neither to be totally embraced, or ignored. No matter which extreme we seem to be living in - or anywhere in between - there's a continual longing, or seeking for Him....waiting for Him to show up one more time...

 David said in Psalm 63:1   

O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek you; 

my soul thirsts for You; 

my flesh faints for You,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 

So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary

beholding Your power and glory.

Because Your steadfast love is better than life

my lips will praise You.

As caregivers, most of the time we do not get to go to what most consider the "sanctuary." This is when we must remember that we are His sanctuary. We do not have to go anywhere to meet with Him or see His glory displayed. He is alive in us and we take him wherever we go...He's in the cave with us in isolation; and He is also with us when we emerge for a time.

 This brings a comfort to me this morning...to know that even when I feel recluse - He is still here. So if you are thirsty for Him today - simply look to Him and be thankful that we do not have to "go" anywhere to experience the touch of His presence. He cannot leave us....Where would He go?...He's everywhere!

A Small Comfort at Last

Please forgive me for being so lax on doing this devotional. I needed help myself for a few weeks. I know you are most likely very familiar with what I call the "caregiver's fog." It can sweep you up and suck you down and leave you in a state of nothingness for days on end. It can fry your emotions and leave you scratching your head barely making it through each grueling day beneath its pressure.But alas...I am finally emerging. I will try to do a better job at keeping my head above and completing this task. My purpose really is to encourage but quite honestly I just have not had it in me! But I'm back now!!

 I think what helped me start the difficult dig out of the hole was the other day someone made mention of a particular scripture and I began talking about it. I was so stirred up it got me to thinking about it and many others on the topic. One thing I have tried to do is to begin to read the scriptures without my old religious thinking...it's very difficult I must say. We've been taught what to think for far too long!

 As I thought about the Word I got all stirred up inside. Then I thought of Psalm 1119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction; that your Word quickens me. I realized no matter what I really am not looking for any help, or any answers outside of His word. No matter how far away He feels to me I still only want His answers for all the dreams I used to have, the wasted years, and the huge whys. The fact that I can still get so stirred up over a scripture lets me know that even though I feel very dead right now - He is alive in me somewhere in there....and that is comforting to me today. So be comforted - He is still Here!

It Says What?

In my morning devotions I was reading through Psalm 68. I have always enjoyed this psalm and I think it may be because we taught the first verse to the children's church crowd back in the day. To me this is a very rich psalm and speaks to many areas in our lives. But today I got to verse 19 and stopped.

 In the NASB verse 19 says this: Blessed be the Lord who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. But I had a note in my margin that reminded me of how this particular verse is translated in the old KJV: Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits; even the God of our salvation. These two phrases: loads us with benefits and bears our burden  do not really seem close. How could the same phrase be translated two different ways? That I may never know - but...

 In my thinking it sounds like it is to my benefit that He carries my burden! He not only took my sin to Calvary - but He walks with me through this journey we call life. He is the one who gives us the strength to walk through each day - to take it as it comes! And when we wait on Him (Isaiah 40:39) He renews that strength, His strength in us, over and over again!

 Today - I will think about how I can let Him carry my burden and renew my strength.

Daniel on Prayer

While I was studying this morning my Bible kind of fell open to Daniel. I didn't really read but a verse or two, but I just started thinking about this man. He is one of my favorite Bible characters and I know I mention him a lot. But I just cannot imagine enduring the things Daniel had to face in his lifetime.

 He was pretty young when they went into captivity at which time he was castrated and was basically made a slave. He was trained for service to the king, but he lost his life, dreams and hopes in the process. He would never do the normal things like get married, buy land and have children. It had all been stolen from him.

 Yet even when Daniel faced such great adversity, he continued to pray daily. It was not just a fluke, he was not trying to use prayer to make anything better or even to get out of captivity at this point. It seems his prayers and efforts did not turn that direction until he found where God has specifically told Jeremiah that it would be 70 years of captivity. When he found what God said on it that is when he moved toward it; by now he was an old man.

I guess there are two things that stand out to me in this book. One is that Daniel maintained his integrity before God and continued the things he had purposed in his heart. He prayed every day - three times a day. And the second thing that sticks out is that he waited for God's timing. He was not whiny (like me) and questioning God's judgment all the time - he went for relationship. Then he got his answer when it was God's time.

 As caregivers we live what can seem to others as a castrated life. Many think that we cannot be productive shut in with our loved ones. But I beg to differ with that train of thinking. Our situation - no matter how difficult it becomes - cannot hinder our relationship with our God. Actually, many times it seems to enhance it!

 Today, if I can encourage anyone at all, I would say - keep your integrity before our God. Don't let the situation rule you - no matter how difficult it seems (and boy do I know!) we must continue to pray and seek the Lord. What we do with Him will last for eternity...

And the Point Is.....?

Psalm 42 has been sung for years. It starts out speaking of how the psalmist was longing for the Lord as a deer thirsts for water. He goes on to talk about that intense longing to just be with Him...a very familiar feeling. And in verse 5 he says this: Why are you cast down O my soul? and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God.  By the time he gets to the last part of his thoughts that helped to form this psalm he mentions it again. (v11)

 And here's what's interesting, in the next psalm verse 5 says the same thing again. On one hand it seems like it's not that big of a deal; like maybe he was trying to talk himself into trusting in God. And I know caregivers must work through that process many days! But, he was not trying to do that. Psalm 42 was written for the sons of Korah...we are talking Moses' day. But Psalm 43 was written by David. That means it was important enough to him for him to repeat it to himself.

 I think the point is this: that even when we are living in troublesome circumstance - we must trust Him to get us through the day. Even if we have to repeat it to our souls over and over I will trust in Him...I will trust in Him...I will trust in Him...That is really what will get us through the day, the hour, the minute or possibly even just this one brief second.

 Make it your goal today as you go about caring for your loved one - to purposefully trust in Him.