LEAN ON GOD
By Diane Faison-Mckinzie
2023
God gives the most challenging battles to his strongest spiritual soldiers.
Belief, trust, and prayer are the weapons that I believe God’s soldiers can use to
fight the anxiousness, anger, depression, fear, and exhaustion that becomes the
darkness that covers caretakers, and the person suffering from illness.
Leaning on and trusting the Lord is sometimes the hardest thing to do when a
life-threatening illness becomes the issue that devours the years, months, days,
hours, and minutes in a person’s life; both the person that is ill, as well as the
caretaker.
At the beginning of my caretaker responsibility, I experienced anger and was
confused about why I was experiencing this emotion. I spent several months
praying every morning for an answer. I finally received my “spiritual answer”.
I heard God speak to me, letting me know my anger was perfectly normal. I
was angry because my life had changed; both in my everyday activities as well
as in my marriage. I could no longer go out with my friends as much because my
place now was to be at home; to be there to address whatever needs my
husband may have. We, as a couple, no longer could experience a physical
relationship, or have a nice meal at a restaurant, because my husband now had
cancer of the esophagus, therefore cannot eat solid food. So, I was selfishly
angry.
I began to realize from my “spiritual answer” that I needed to “lean” on God to
take care of my husband and be assured that my emotion was a normal stage I
had to go through in order to take my next step. I then experienced “calmness”,
and I was willing to allow God to fight this battle, and I learned to lean on Him.
They say all these emotions that I had been experiencing, were the same stages
that a person goes through when a loved one dies, so it’s normal.
When you break a foot, hip, or leg, you need support to lean on to function
(like a crutch, walker, or wheelchair). Well, at that time, my life had a “fracture”
in it. So, God was my crutch, my walker, and my wheelchair to lean on and give
me the ability to function, and I am so thankful He was my support. Without
HIM (GOD), giving me his powerful support, I surely would have fallen.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO LEAN ON GOD, HE IS STRONGER THAN YOU
THINK!
Thank you Diane for sharing your pain and frustration at your husband's illness. The emotions that you experience help us to understand our own emotions as we encounter difficulties. We are fortified by the strength and comfort you find by leaning on God.
ReplyDeleteOf course God gives us one another to lean on also, if we trust his community to manifest his love and compassion.