This is a unique show. It's a show that exists specifically for the heart of a caregiver. To reach into the troubled world of those caring for aging parents, for special needs children, for the mentally ill, for those who've struggled with trauma, PTSD, wounded warriors, addiction, alcoholics. Those are chronic impairments. And when you have a chronic impairment, you have a caregiver. How do you navigate through those things and stay healthy, stay calmer, stay joyful, have a productive life? Can you do those things? And my answer is unequivocally yes, you can. It takes work and it takes help.
I've been doing this myself for 34 years. And I am the crash test dummy of caregivers, often, I think more like the Wile E. Coyote of caregivers. But we can learn from each other, we can strengthen each other. And I'm of the conviction that we as caregivers really don't need a lot of instruction. I can't tell you how to take care of your loved one any more than you can tell me how to take care of mine. But what we can do is remind each other of principles that will guide us through this a little safer, a little calmer, even a little bit more joyful.
What do those things look like? And how does it apply to your situation? That's what we're here to discuss on this show today.
888-589-8840, 888-589-8840. Here is a scripture I thought would be appropriate today given the challenges going on in this world. And they are bleak. Lamentations 3, 1724.
When things look a little bit bleak, always go to the book of Lamentations. Because whereas your exact circumstances as a caregiver are not going to be covered necessarily in scripture. Okay, I've been taking care of a woman with a broken body.
80 surgeries, both her legs amputated, 100 doctors, 12 different hospitals. That's not really covered in scripture as far as the details. There's nobody I could look to and say, hey, well, that's what he did. But every principle, every struggle, every heartache, every sorrow, every lamentation, if you will, is covered in scripture. The most often repeated commandment in scripture is fear not. Fear not. Don't be afraid.
That's the most often commanded scripture throughout the entire Bible. Fear not. Why do you think that is? You afraid? A lot of people are. If you're a caregiver for any length of time, you're going to shake hands with fear.
It's going to happen. So how do you deal with this? How do you reorient yourself and keep pushing forward? Lamentations 3, 17 through 24. My soul is bereft of peace. Do you get that as a caregiver? Your soul is bereft of peace? Is that something you're familiar with feeling? I bet you are. I have forgotten what happiness is.
I mean, are we in the right ballpark here as caregivers? So I say my endurance has perished. So is my hope from the Lord.
You track it down. This is where the caregiver lives right here. My soul is bereft of peace.
I have forgotten what happiness is. So I say my endurance has perished. So is my hope from the Lord.
This is where caregivers live. So many of us do. And then he goes on to say, remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. My soul continually remembers it and has bowed down within me. But this I call to mind.
The author here has set the table. This is Jeremiah. And a lot of times Jeremiah was referred to as the weeping prophet. He's stable here of how much angst is going on in his heart.
Then he does this. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, and therefore I will hope in Him. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. This is how Jeremiah is doing this.
He's expressing what's going on in his own heart, with his own struggles, with his own despair. And then he anchors himself in the truth of God's faithfulness and his steadfastness. When things are going well in our life, when we've got a positive cash flow and everybody's healthy and there's no crisis, how hard do we reach out to grasp a Savior? It's mighty difficult to call out to a Savior you don't think you need. And as a pastor friend of mine states often, all you need is need. But we get the illusion that we're okay. We got this part, God. And then when crisis hits, we pull out our AAA card, if you will, and cry out to God, and we start praying differently.
Well, when you're a caregiver, the crisis don't seem to end. They just, every day is a new day of challenges and heartache and struggles. And yet he says here, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. And you know that song, Great is Our Faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. This is walking by faith in the midst of heartache.
This is what it looks like. This is how we do it. And we go back to these things and we land on that and we stay really in that little tiny square.
You know, we have to anchor ourselves in this and this is what's going on. So I thought that would be a good scripture to start off the day with and to help orient us in time and space as caregivers. You know, and that's where that hymn comes from. Great is our faithfulness. You know that one. So that's where that hymn has its origins. Great is our faithfulness.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-01-23 23:39:00 / 2024-01-23 23:41:59 / 3
