Choose to Forgive
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.—1 John 1:9 (NIV)
Those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength, they will soar aloft as with eagles’ wings; when they are running they won’t grow weary, when they are walking they won’t get tired.—ISAIAH 40:31 (CEB)
My mother passed away after seven years with Alzheimer’s. We celebrated her life with a lovely memorial service, and while I missed her very much, I had to admit that I also felt relieved. I was glad for rest after seven years of attending to her many needs.
That rest proved to be short-lived. Only one month after my mother’s death, my mother-in-law fell seriously ill and had to be hospitalized. Helping my wife care for her mother, I found myself jumping back into my caregiving role. We both did.
I often referred to the verse above, glad that God gives us bursts of strength like soaring on eagles’ wings. Thankfully my mother-in-law recovered, but that meant we were resuming our long-term caregiving duties. We needed stamina for the trials ahead.
Crises that soon subside can still be very stressful, and pushing through them can require the ability to run without fatiguing. Chronic stressors—like the challenges of continuously caring for a loved one—can be even harder. Thus, I find hope in asking God not only for short bursts of strength but also for the endurance to keep walking the arduous path day in and day out.
Dear Heavenly Father, thanks for renewing my strength every day. Help me remember to trust you when I grow weary.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.—1 John 1:9 (NIV)
Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.—1 Thessalonians 4:11 (NLT)
When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.—Job 2:11 (NIV)