17 Accepting God’s Hope
17. 1 My Story
In April 2016, I had a surprise in the interoffice mail at work one Thursday. It came with an apology from the information technology vice president’s executive administrative assistant for not getting the large manila envelope to me sooner.
She said there was an interoffice mail for me. She had it “for a while, but hadn’t gotten it to me with all going on in IT.”
It was a wonderful gift of a necklace for my wife from a coworker of mine. It has the word HOPE on it.
Thank you, Cynthia Mitchell, for thinking of my wife, buying and sending her the necklace. The silver piece of jewelry was beautiful. It put a smile on my sweet wife’s face. It was a reminder of the hope we have in Christ necklace.
When we moved my wife into hospice, she asked I get the HOPE necklace and put it back on her. She usually wore it all the time but it was off because of MRIs, CT scans, and PET Scans she had.
Cynthia’s act of kindness continued to give my wife comfort and hope until her last breath. Cynthia, thank you. You’re a beautiful woman inside and out with a caring heart. I was blessed to work with you before I retired. Thanks again.
My wife asked to be buried wearing the necklace. I honored that wish. My wife never lost hope. As death approached her faith never left. While she would have been glad for a miracle cure of the Melanoma cancer, she had her hope in Jesus and approached her death with the excitement of a school girl going on a trip to Disney World. She couldn’t wait to get on to heaven and to see Jesus. She never mentioned fear, just anticipation.
An interesting side note was when my wife was in in-patient hospice care getting stabilized enough where she could come home for her last days, her register nurse was named Hope. She had HOPE with her to the end.
One last thought — A simple act of kindness like a card or a thoughtful gift can touch a person’s heart in ways you will never know. If God prompts you to do an act of kindness, please follow through because you may never realize the impact of the hope you’re sharing.
17.2 Accepting the Hope Available through God
Part of learning to care for a person with a chronic illness is accepting the hope available through God. Everyone needs hope. Today’s Bible verse tells of the hope we have available in God.
17.3 Bible Verse
Job 11:18 (KJV), “And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.”
17.4 What the Verse Means
Like my wife, you can feel secure because of the hope you have in Jesus Christ. While you will continue to experience life’s difficulties, you need not have a gloom and doom or why me Lord attitude.
Your outlook should be optimistic because nothing will ultimately be able to harm you from your heavenly destination. Have a firm faith and assurance of your final victory, because of God’s love and in the Bible’s promises which respect the life that now is, and that which is to come.
Hope allows you to lie down on the bed and sleep at night in peace and quietness, having nothing to fear.
17.5 Pray Using Scripture
- Heavenly Father, we feel secure because there is hope because of you. Help us to claim that promise.
- Because of the hope and security that we have in you, we can rest and sleep in peace. Thank you for restful sleep.
- Lord Jesus, help us to rest in you.
17.6 Responding to God’s Hope
- Do you have hope for the future? I am talking of the hope that’s available through knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. See Appendix A for information on how to become a Christian.
- As a caregiver, you’ll grow tired and weary. You will have times you doubt that you can face another day of taking care of your family member or loved one. Thank God for the hope that you and your charge have through Christ Jesus.
- Ask God to give you the same level of peace he gave my wife.
Photo Source: Photo taken by the author. It is my late wife wearing the “Hope’ necklace.
This blog post is from the forthcoming book, “Caregiving: Biblical Insights from a Caregiver’s Journey” by Jimmie Kepler, Ed.D.
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What an amazing woman is your wife! To have such faith, joy and hope in the face of death. I know she continues to be an inspiration to so many. Each time I read about another step on your journey, I am blessed by your message. This is going to be an awesome book!
What a great reminder of hope and an example of a lifetime of faith. What an encouragement!!
I was blessed with a wife that during our courtship, marriage, her terminal illness, and even from heaven keeps encouraging me. I hope I did the same for her.
A beautiful post, Jimmie, and I LOVE that the nurses name was Hope!!! How precious that you said, “She had Hope with her to the end!
My late wife was so encouraged that all her nurses were Believers and quoted Scripture during checks. Amazingly the RNs names were Hope, Grace, and Joy for the shifts that cared for her during the week and on the weekends. That can only be a God thing.