Have you ever cared for anyone and not expected anything in return? What was the result of your actions? Do you think you gave hope to the person you cared for, and did you receive hope also? What was the motivation behind your caregiving? Was it love, self-gratification, or was it out of obligation, or obedience? Have you ever given care to someone you did not really know? Let me share with you what I learned about how caring can bring hope.
In some ways I turned into a caregiver when my wife was struggling with her mental illness. I want to make it clear that I wanted to care for her, yet I also believed that I had no choice. I had made a vow to Laura that I would be with her in sickness and in health and I was compelled to be obedient to that vow because it was also made with God.
As I was the caregiver, I was gaining hope in what was to come in the future. Somehow, I was given the strength to endure. I truly believed God was always there helping me. Jesus says in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (ESV) I am convinced when Jesus gives me a command His Holy Spirit is there to help me accomplish His command. Jesus also said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26 (ESV)
I have also learned that God cares about the poor and needy. In Psalms 86:1-2 King David says, “Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.” (ESV) From this verse I discovered how the needy are not necessarily the poor like I used to think. So, who are the needy? Instead, they need something. Like the person who is lonely, the person who needs help to do physical things, the person who needs help cooking or eating, the person who needs to be freed from an abusive relationship, a person who is ill, and so on and so on. I find that the needy are all around me and that I can care for them.
I pray you understand that God is asking you to care for others and is using others to care for you. It is this kind of caring that brings true hope because God is involved in it. I pray if you have not already repented of your sin that you will now. It is through a relationship with God through Jesus that solves the problem of sin and brings us hope in the present and the future. I would also encourage you to seek Jesus for He is the only opportunity there is to have eternal life. This is to me the greatest source of hope. In doing so, I believe we will have hope and joy during our everyday lives. Understanding that Jesus Christ allows us to access eternal life, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3 (ESV) This will allow us to have hope. At the same time understanding you will live eternally knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ and this will bring you the greatest hope. Because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for sins. His payment satisfies all my sins from the past, the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because holiness shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here.
You can watch book trailer about my book.
You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.
eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
