When You’re a Caregiver, You Can Manage Worry Biblically
Part of learning to care for a person with a chronic illness is managing worry.
Within the last five years, my wife was diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoid and Melanoma cancers. The oncologist informed us if the Melanoma cancer doesn’t kill her the neuroendocrine carcinoid would. The Melanoma cancer killed her in April 2018.
My Story
While I won’t get into her sickness or her chronic illness’s medical details, I will share how I dealt with the challenges. While she was under a medical team of physician’s care and treatment, my focus was on the spiritual, not the therapeutic.
That doesn’t mean I ignored the medical side for treatment. I did not. I made sure she had the best treatment available and that she followed the doctor’s recommendations.
I am a Christian. My Christian faith is foundational for managing the emotional challenges. I find comfort from reading the Holy Bible, applying the Bible verses to daily life, and praying using the Bible verse(s) as my prayer.
This same comfort is available to you. God, through His Word, the Bible, provides Hope for the Caregiver.”
Bible Verse
Matthew 6:34 (KJV), “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
What the Verse Means
What the verse is saying in today’s English is give your entire attention to God. Look for what He is doing in your life today. With the focus in the here and now you cannot get worried or worked up over what may or may not happen tomorrow. While you may influence tomorrow, you cannot control or even guarantee you will have a tomorrow.
There’s a reason why we shouldn’t get worked up.
The reason? God will help you. And with God’s help, I dealt with whatever came our way, no matter how challenging or difficult the trials were. I can testify God walked with my wife and me through every step of this difficult, heartbreaking process.
Pray Using Scripture
- Father in Heaven, help me to focus on today. Help me see you and your activity in my life.
- Lord Jesus, help me not to get too worried or concerned about what may or may not happen tomorrow.
- Almighty Father, teach me how to trust in you and let you take control of my life.
- I thank you for the promise that you will help me deal with whatever hard things are in my future where I will be as prepared as possible when the time comes.
- I ask for the grace to handle today.
- I trust tomorrow to the Lord.
Responding to God’s Hope
- Name at least one way God is taking care of you and your loved one today? An example may be health insurance or hospice care. Thank God for caring for you today.
- Are you praying and reading the Bible? Part of taking each day as it comes is spending time with God through Bible reading and prayer. I suggest you start by reading a Proverb a day from the Book of Proverbs in your Bible. The Book of Proverbs has thirty-one chapters. That gives you a Proverb for each day of the month. I suggest you begin by reading the chapter of the Book of Proverbs whose chapter number matches the day of the month. As I am writing this, it is the tenth of the month. You would read chapter ten.
- Pray for the one your caring for and yourself that you would have a good day. Pray you would be up to any challenges you face today. Pray for how you can make your loved one’s day comfortable.
TWEETABLE
Photo Source: Pixabay
This article is from the forthcoming book, “Hope for the Caregiver: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional Approach.”
