How to Accept God’s Hope
17. 1 My Story
On Thursday, April 2016, I had a surprise in the interoffice mail. The big envelope came with an apology attached on a Post-it Note from the information technology vice president’s executive administrative assistant. She expressed her regrets for not getting the dispatch to me sooner.
She shared that she had it “for a while, but hadn’t gotten it to me with all going on in IT.”
In the delivery was a wonderful gift of a necklace for my wife. The gift was from a coworker of mine. It had 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. The necklace with its one word message was a reminder of the hope through Jesus Christ we all have available.
When we moved my wife into in-patient hospice care, 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 series of MRIs, CT scans, and PET scans she had during the hospitalization that resulted from the recurrence of her brain tumor.
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 caring for a person with a chronic illness is accepting the hope available through God. Everyone needs hope. Job 11:18 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 concerning the future should be optimistic because nothing will ultimately be able to harm you or keep your loved one, if they are a Believer in Jesus, from their heavenly destination. You have a firm faith and assurance of your final victory, because of God’s love He has shared with You in the Bible’s promises which respect the life that now is, and that Heavenly future which for the Christian is the eternal destination.
This knowledge 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.
17.7 Takeaway
Jesus Christ is the true source of hope.
If you are not a Christian, accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior is a prerequisite to obtaining God’s peace.
Click HERE to find out how to become a Christian. You can trust Jesus Christ and become a Christian now.
Photo Source: Taken by the author.
This blog is from the forthcoming book, “Caregiving: Biblical Insights from a Caregiver’s Journey by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D.
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