Tag: Moses

Resting in the Lord

Posted in Blog, Cancer, Caregiver, Caregiving, Christian Love, Devotions, Faith, Hope, J Kepler, JA Kepler, Jim Kepler, Jimmie A. Kepler, Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Jimmie Kepler, Love, Memoir, Prayers1 Comment

4.1 My Story

You may be like my late wife was when she was battling Stage Four Melanoma cancer. She found herself very tired. She needed rest. My daily caregiving also left me weary. Like my wife, I needed rest.

The managing of my wife’s schedule took a skillset even an air traffic controller would envy. First, she had the neverending visits to her primary medical team. The army of medical doctors was the primary care physician, the surgical oncologist, managing oncologist, dermatologist, gastro endocrinologist, thyroid doctor, cardiologist (the heart must be healthy enough for the treatments) and radiologist medical doctor. They did the routine checks, prescribed the medications and treatments, performed biopsies and surgery as well as ordering the tests.

A group of medical technicians did the grunt work of tests and treatment procedures. In this category was blood work, PET scans, CAT scans, MRIs, days and weeks of radiation treatments and the lymphedema therapy.

At home, my wife did months of daily chemotherapy prescription medications, spent hours waiting for UPS or FedEx to deliver the refrigerated prescriptions from the exotic, super expensive pharmacy, did 24/7/365 lymphedema therapy at home with the machine that sounded like Darth Vader with a sleeve that looked like the nose of Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street.

Added to these challenges was managing her work schedule to maintain health insurance. These alone were enough to have her constantly exhausted. Unfortunately, more daily challenges were adding to her fatigue.

My wife’s eating schedule controlled her life. She had to take the prescription meds and wait two hours to eat or eat and wait several hours before she could take the medications. The routine dictated the time of day when she woke and went to bed.

You get the picture and can relate. Like my wife, you get tired. Yes, the patient gets tired. The caregiver also gets worn down. The caregiver makes sure the loved on stays on schedule and task. As the caregiver, you need to rest. You need God.

4.2 Resting in the Lord

Part of learning to care for a person with a chronic illness understands the need for resting in the Lord.

Caregiving for a loved one with a chronic illness can leave you tired and weary. I am talking about becoming bone tired. I am talking about the type of fatigue that vacations or even a sabbatical cannot cure.

4.3 Bible Verse

Exodus 33:14 (KJV), “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

4.4 What the Verse Means

The Lord is telling Moses that God will personally go with him. The Lord will give him rest. He is informing Moses that everything will ultimately be fine for him.

For the caregiver, this doesn’t mean that your loved one will be healed in this life. Final healing may not happen until heaven.

The application for the Believer in Christ is the Lord also personally goes with us, gives us rest, and promises to sustain us during our caregiving journey.

4.5 Pray Using Scripture

  • Heavenly Father thank you for your presence going with us.
  • Lord Jesus, thank you for the rest you give us.
  • God, we ask to experience your rest again this day.
  • Let us use Sundays as the day of rest and worship.

4.6 Responding to God’s Hope

  1. Remember a recent time you felt God’s presence. What were you doing? Recall how you felt his presence.
  2. Ask God to go with you and be with you today as you work and go about your caregiving responsibilities.
  3. Are you getting enough rest? Are you reading your Bible regularly? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you taking time to be still?

Photo Source: Pixabay

This blog is from the book, “Caregiving: Biblical Insights from a Caregiver’s Journey” by Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D. The book is available in paperback or eBook format at Caregiving: Biblical Insights From a Caregiver’s Journey

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Poem: The Liberator’s Helper – Part One

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The Liberator’s Helper – Part One

Most who are free
Never experience true freedom.
The Liberator’s Helper knew freedom
And his knowing liberty was his prison.

Part One

For saving them from starvation,
The Pyramid People
Honored his
Memory and descendants.

And the descendants
Of the one who saved them
From the famine
Lived in the strange land
As friends
Before being enslaved.

The sun arose signaling
The beginning as a new day began.
The beauty of the morning was everywhere.
The bird’s song announced the break of day.
Then all turned black
As the news arrived that
Human Ruler had ascended to the throne.

The news brought fear
Into the hearts of all clans
For everyone knew
He was a repressive, powerful leader.
And Human Ruler knew not the one used by
The Liberator
To save the Pyramid People
From the great seven years famine
Or even his honored memory.

Brutality was Human Ruler’s method.
Fear was his motivation.
His method and motivation preceded him
And his grand army.
And he tormented and afflicted
The descendants of the one that had saved
The Pyramid People from starvation.
He did this because they were not of his clan.

Yet the children of the one
That had saved the Pyramid People
Increased in numbers in spite of Human Ruler.
They were many with more being born.
They were physically strong and
Demonstrated unusual wisdom.

Because of Human Ruler’s half-truths,
The Pyramid People’s paranoia filled the land.
Their distrust perverted to a great level.

Human Ruler believed
Male offspring
Of the one who had saved them
From the famine
Were superior to their female children.

For Human Ruler
Did not know male and female descendants
Of the one who had saved them
From the famine were fashioned by The Liberator.
The Liberator made both male and female
In the likeness of The Liberator.
Both were equally advanced creations.

Human Ruler with spite
Afflicted the descendants
Of the one who saved them
From the seven years famine.
He had his many lieutenants
Make a burden of their everyday work.
They required from them
Superior productivity with fewer resources.
And they made them
Do the tasks
The Pyramid People would not do
Because the tasks were beneath them.

Human Ruler’s mind
Also devised premeditated evil.
In his private chamber’s secret room
He feared them very much
And plotted their demise in his heart.
And then he gave a directive
To those who help birth the babies
To be part of his conspiracy of doom.

His order to those who helped
Birth the babies were
To kill the non-female babies
Of the descendants of the ones
Who have become too numerous
And say they were stillborn.
He warned less you do this
They shall become too strong and
Ultimately will rule over us.

And rage consumed Human Ruler.
He required those who help birth the babies
To give a report
Of their obedience to his directive.

The report of Human Ruler’s edict’s fulfillment
Amazed their leader.
And to those
Who helped birth the babies lied not.

The report was the impregnated females
That are descendants of the one they say saved
The Pyramid People from the seven years famine
Deliver their male offspring without travail.
“The male babies are born before we arrive,” they reported.
“The delivery is fast and without effort.”

Those who help birth the babies
Feared The Liberator more than they feared Human Ruler
Who believed not in the Liberator.
They did not obey Human Rulers’ command.
They would not kill the non-female babies
And say they were stillborn
On the day of their birth.

And with what great magic,
The magic that is of the Father-Spirit,
The Liberator provided families to care for,
Provide for,
And protect those
Who help birth the babies.

Now the fury of Human Ruler was great.
Wrath filled his heart.
While he ordered no harm for the female babies
His pronouncement was throwing the non-female babies
Into the great waterway that flowed
From the father mountain far to the south and
Into the endless saltwater lake in the north.

Yet The Liberator
Was the one who really was
In control of all things.
And Human Ruler knew this not.

© January 2011 by Jimmie Aaron Kepler