6 minute read
GOSPEL GRACE
The Caregiver
BY LINDA HOBBS
Sharing gospel grace is a lot like caring for people. The adage “sharing is caring” is true. Like someone once told me, “Share the gospel message of Jesus everywhere you go. And when you have to, use words.” That has been instilled in me over my lifetime.
Simple acts of kindness in caretaking will share God’s Word more than any sermon, podcast, or church service can. We can all be caregivers in our actions with others. Our Lord cared for the hopeless, provided healing for those crippled, and fed the hungry.
In 1979 my father-in-law was killed in an auto accident. My husband Ken was an only child, leaving just us to care for his mom, Lois. She had many medical issues resulting from scarlet fever as a child, and through the years, became very unhealthy as she developed congestive heart failure. Her health deteriorated, and we moved her into our home to give her our full attention.
Ken was very close to his mom and, having lost his father at 33, we both did everything possible as a team to care for her needs. I remember one beautiful morning when Ken scooped up his mother in his arms and danced with her around the house. The strain of caretaking can be overwhelming to the best of us, but we had to find moments of joy to offset the hardship of reality. God grew me through these times of caregiving for Lois. Little did I know that my role as a caregiver was only beginning. God was preparing me for the most challenging trial of my life.
In 2014, my dear husband was diagnosed with white matter disease of the brain, or early onset Alzheimer’s disease. As Ken had been willing and present to care for his mother, God had prepared me to care for him, which I did for eight years. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2 to be completely humble, gentle, and patient, bearing with one another in love. We must do everything in love.
God cares for us in every way possible. He provides for our every need. God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten son (such love) that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. The scripture verse John 3:16 is such a picture of love. Knowing how much God loves us, He gives and gives and cares for our every need. I had the most beautiful example of caretaking demonstrated to me in God’s Word as I walked through my season as a caretaker. Scripture was my anchor of hope and my rock of strength.
Jesus says in John 10:11 (NIV), “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Could I lay down my life for another? Could I sacrifice my time to care for someone else mentally, emotionally, and physically? God’s Word continued to be a living example in my life. I could abandon what God called me to do or surrender my life because of
His example through His Word, looking for the joy in my caretaking calling.
From the moment I met my mother-in-law, Mom Hobbs, we began a love relationship. We were family, friends, confidants, and much more. I learned so much through her godly example that when the time came for her needs to be met, it was evident that God had been preparing me for what would become a lifetime of caregiving. Although I didn’t know it at the time, the act of caregiving is a beautiful illustration of God’s gospel grace offered to each of us. God’s love is so great that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Could I die for my mother-in-law? Could I die for the countless people I have been called to care for?
Could I die for my husband, the man I sacrificed and attended to when he couldn’t care for himself? It all comes back to the question of love. Do we offer love to others as God gives His love to us?
It is not always easy to sacrifice ourselves to love and care for others. The Bible tells us in James 1:2 (ESV), Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. I learned joy from the examples I had in my lifetime and from God’s Word. I learned perseverance to conquer those extremely difficult times.
God perfects us every day. God grows both you and the people you care for through your circumstances. We are not always perfect in how we meet adversity and trials, but we’ve been washed clean, and Jesus paid the price for our sins and the mistakes we make along the way. We still desperately need the Lord to sanctify us and purge our wicked ways. May we walk daily in holiness and live a life of forever confessions, not only when we are weak.
Pray for the one who needs to know Jesus. Pray that if you are ever called to care for someone, you will show the love that Jesus showed by dying on the cross for our sins.
To receive everlasting love in your heart and understand that you, too, can pour out that love on another, please consider praying this prayer to God.
Father God, I give You my life. I confess that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I can’t do this life on my own. Sin has been shackling me and has caused grief in my own life. The burden is too heavy to bear. I need you, Jesus, to forgive me of my sins, and come into my heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. Please help me follow you all the days of my life. I surrender all my life to YOU. Thank YOU, Father God, for loving me. Thank you for caring for me. It’s not because of my good works that I receive salvation, but it is because of YOUR perfect work of dying on the cross and rising from the dead to give me life. It is finished; it is complete. God, your grace has just begun!
In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
May we each be mindful of our own salvation as we care for others. And let us also be mindful of the eternal security of those we care for. Caring for another human creation can become such a joyful experience as we recognize the tremendous love we were given poured out through our kind example over another. May your example have eternal weight in God’s kingdom.
