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IN AS CLEAR A VOICE AS POSSIBLE
 My husband David, because of a terminal neurological
disease, was having increasing difficulty
feeding himself; he could swallow only with a great deal
of effort. As I fed him one day, with more food landing on
his shirt than in his mouth, David and I went through the usual “change
the shirt” game.“David, lift up your arms,” I pleaded. “If
you do, we can go get some ice cream.”David’s garbled
speech made his response to my urging impossible to comprehend. However,
I did figure out that
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he
had no intention of lifting his arms or cooperating as I changed
the shirt.I felt myself tense and sighed in frustration. I didn’t
need this. Try as I would, I simply couldn’t understand what
he was saying, and we weren’t moving any nearer to our goal—a
clean shirt.“David, my job is to feed you, make sure you take
your medications,
and help your doctors and nurses.  Your job is to help me to help
you. You need to lift your arms, please.”With an endearing
smile so like that of the man I married before the ravages of his
illness took over David said, “No. My job is to say ‘I
love you,’ in as clear a voice as possible.”Isn’t
that how we are with our heavenly Caregiver? If you’re anything
like me, you say, “God, your job is to heal my loved one.
Your job is to provide me with the money and support I need to be
a caregiver. You need to make my job easier.”Fortunately,
God knows His job better than we do. He patiently says, “No.
My job is to say ‘I love you,’ in as clear a voice as
possible.” C.S Lewis wrote, “God whispers in our pleasures
but shouts in our pain.” Whether God is whispering or shouting,
He tells us to, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps
46:10). |
When
we are still, when our turbulent emotions become pla-cid,
then we can hear His voice as He tells us of His love. We
can hear
His voice when we get unexpected respite. A gentle smile
from the one we are caring for is God’s way of whispering
His love. God can be heard in the lack of outside demands on
a particularly
stressful day , or when the insurance company actually pays
their share without a fight.
Oswald Chambers’s words speak
even to God’s silence: “You say, ‘But He
has not answered.’ He has. He is so near to you that
His silence is the answer. His silence is big with terrific
meaning that you cannot understand yet, but presently you will.”
In
whispering, shouting, and yes, even in silence, our God,
our Caregiver, is enunciating His love in as clear a voice
as possible.
I believe in the sun, even
though it doesn’t shine.I
believe in love, even when it isn’t shown.I believe in
God, even when he doesn’t speak.—Written
on the wall of a concentration camp by a prisoner.
He tends his flock
like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries
them close to his heart; He gently leads those that have
young. —Isaiah
40:11
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LEANING
ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS
—ELISHA A. HOFFMAN
What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning
on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness,
what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
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