Issuu

He Walks with Me

Devotions for Your Caregiving Journey with God

Adapted from Ambushed By Grace: Help & Hope on the Caregiving Journey by Shelly Beach (Copyright © 2008) and It Is Well with My Soul by Shelly Beach (Copyright © 2012). Used by permission of Discovery House. All rights reserved.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version® Anglicized, NIV®

Interior design by Mary Tham

Cover design by Mary Tham

Cover photo by shutterstock.com

Printed in Singapore

First Printing in 2018

Introduction

Caring for someone is one of the most difficult responsibilities a person can take on. Much is expected from you, including the ability to play multiple roles: parent, nurse, counsellor, provider, and helper. You are expected to play these roles all the time. And you are expected to sacrifice yourself and everything you have—your time, your hobbies, your own family, your dreams, and your happiness—for someone else.

What makes it harder is the fact that most of the time, caregiving is not something we can prepare or plan for. It can be a shock to discover just how stressful, exhausting, and frustrating it gets. As you spend most of your days giving— and never receiving—you may find yourself exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. Worse, you may feel trapped in the role, knowing that you cannot leave until the person you are caring for is completely healed or has passed on. This can fill you with resentment, especially when others don’t seem willing to sacrifice their time—but expect you to give up yours. No one seems to understand that you, the caregiver, can suffer as much as the person you’re caring for.

Yet, deep inside, you might want to do it differently. Many caregivers seek to take a broader view of their situation. Amid the daily grind, they ask: Where can I find more strength? How can I continue to have compassion and patience when I’m feeling so drained? Is there any other way of looking at my role as a caregiver?

These are some of the questions we hope to explore in this book, which has been designed with your busy schedule in mind. Each “chapter” has been kept short, and will hopefully leave you with something useful—an inspiring thought, a fresh insight, or a practical tip or two. Each entry also comes with a Bible verse, prayer, and key thought, so you can read this resource either as a book or a devotional of sorts. In between, we have included a couple of testimonies

by fellow caregivers who are walking the same road and struggling with the same tasks and responsibilities of caring while trying to adopt the mind and heart of Christ. Finally, we will also look at the example of Christ the caregiver.

Ultimately, we hope that this resource will help you see caregiving from a new perspective—not just as a task, but as a journey.

Yes, caregiving is a long, arduous walk. But it is one that you can take together with God, having the full assurance that He is walking beside you always. It is a journey that can grow your relationship with God, transform you, and change your relationships with others. As you walk with Him, you will find strength and refreshment in His truth and promises. You will discover a living stream that will quench your thirst, nourish your mind and body, and comfort your soul.

On this journey, you will also come to realise that you are not a prisoner of your circumstances. You are not bound by duty, but freed for service. God has called you to walk a path of challenge and change. That’s why we will focus on the three parties you relate to as a caregiver: God, yourself, and others. Notice that “others” comes last!

We pray that as you read this book, God will give you the strength, courage, and openness to consider new approaches to your role of caregiving, so that you will grow in your walk with God and emerge a stronger, more faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, learning to love and care as He does.

Our Daily Bread Ministries

I. JOURNEYING WITH GOD

Caregiving gives you a glimpse into God’s heart to care and love, and an opportunity to build your relationship with Him.

A divine appointment

Those who hope in the L ord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. —Isaiah 40:31

The call to be a caregiver is a call to sacrifice. We are expected to be totally selfless and put aside our personal priorities as we adapt to a life of caring for an ailing spouse, an aged parent, or a special needs child. We are called to give, give, and give. And if someone suggests that the experience will ultimately benefit us, we would probably be dismissive. “What is there,” we may retort, “to gain from being a caregiver?”

Consider, however, this idea: caregiving is a divine appointment with God.

How so? Two things come to mind. First, as we adapt to our role as caregivers, we will find ourselves evaluating our priorities, values, and feelings as we try to balance personal needs against those of the people we are caring for. In the process, we will discover more about ourselves, our relationship with God, and about God himself.

The demands of caregiving can strip us down to the basics, such that we begin to see our true motives, passions, agendas, and priorities. At the same time, the experience can show us what it truly means to live like Jesus—selflessly and passionately pouring out our lives for others, just as He did.

Second, as we deal with the overwhelming feelings of frustration, resentment, anger, and helplessness, we will learn to turn to God for strength to keep on going. There will be moments, of course, when we will feel so burdened that even crying out to God becomes difficult. And there will be times when we will feel like throwing in the towel and giving up altogether.

But it is precisely at these times, when we are at our weakest, that we encounter God in a deep, personal way (2 Corinthians 12:9). In Luke 15:3–6, the Lord describes how a shepherd joyfully shoulders his

lost sheep and returns home. How comforting! Imagine being carried up by God the loving Shepherd when you are at your weakest, and taken home in His loving hands.

No wonder Isaiah could speak of finding strength in God this way:

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

(Isaiah 40:31)

Oh Lord, You have promised me that Your grace is sufficient for me, for Your power is made perfect in my weakness. Give me the faith to keep looking to You for strength, for I know You will carry me in my weakest moments. And give me new eyes to see my journey as a caregiver in a new light, as a divine encounter with You.

Caregiving is a divine appointment with God.

Reflecting Christ

Do you feel like you have failed to be a good caregiver? Perhaps the person under your charge complains that you aren’t meeting their needs sufficiently. Perhaps relatives and friends are critical about your “performance” as a caregiver. Perhaps they feel that you could do better in balancing your task of caregiving with competing priorities, such as being a parent, child, spouse, or employee.

Caregiving is a glorious call to be confor med to the image of Christ. It offers us an opportunity to live out our commitment to care for others as Jesus did, to love those whom God has created, and to demonstrate the redemptive power of Christ. Through our actions, attitudes, and words, we will reflect how God ministers grace and mercy as we learn to be Jesus’ channel of compassion, redemption, and love.

— Col ossians 3:17

It will be hard, of course. To love as Christ loves, we will have to put aside our time, our job, our personal commitments, our friends, and even our own health. We must lay down our expectations of fairness at the altar before crawling onto it ourselves, submitting to God’s desire to mould us into the character of His Son. And we will have to be willing—and prepared—to search our hearts and focus the light of God’s Word on ourselves, our speech, our actions, and our motives.

If you feel you have failed, take heart: God does not view caregiving the way others do. He does not assess your service based on how well you meet the needs of those you care for, or how efficiently you carry out your role and responsibilities. Rather, He is interested in only one thing: how well we reflect Christ. The instruction in Colossians 3:17 to “do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” applies to caregiving as much as to other forms of Christian service. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

So don’t let the world—or even yourself—judge your quality of caregiving by the level of service you provide. Instead, focus your heart, your actions, your words, and your thoughts on being like Christ. That’s all God sees.

Father, teach me to see beyond this task of simply giving care, and understand that You have called me on a journey into Your very own heart. Teach me to see people through Your eyes, to care for them with Your hands, and to love them with Your heart. For You love every one of us—me, the person I’m caring for, and all those around me.

Caregiving is a journey into Jesus’ heart.