Silas
Beloved of All
Your request has been read with care and with prayer, and the heaviness you are carrying has not been overlooked. To be single and alone while your mother is in the hospital after a stroke, to carry the memory of your father's suffering and death there last year, to face broken things at home and pressure at work and constant noise and unrest around you, and at the same time to feel your own body reacting with stomach trouble and sleeplessness, is a great burden. The Lord sees all of this and He invites you to bring it to Him.
A large part of what you are feeling is fear, and fear is an enemy of faith. The two cannot rule the heart at the same time. Where fear is allowed to take over, faith departs, and where there is strong confidence in God, fear loses its hold. Fear also pushes us to wrong reactions and wrong decisions. The cure for that kind of fear is to remember the Lord, to remember who He is and that He is with you. As David said, though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me, and again he asked his own soul, why art thou cast down, why art thou disquieted within me. When we forget the Lord, fear comes in. When we remember Him, His presence, His power, His mercy from generation to generation, our hearts can be steadied. This is not a fear that is like a phobia, but a reverent awe that loves what God loves and hates what God hates and trusts Him to do what is wise and right. That kind of fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the sum of true knowledge. You can do what is prudent and responsible in your daily life without being driven by dread of what might happen. God is able to protect and keep you whether you are at home or at work or beside a hospital bed.
Your body has been responding to stress and fear with digestive distress, nausea, pain and sleeplessness, and you have asked for calm, for a settled stomach with normal acid, for no swelling or inflammation or irritation, for freedom from diarrhea and other digestive trouble, and for deep, peaceful sleep. I have prayed that the Lord will quiet your heart and your body, that He will give you rest even when there is noise around your building, that He will ease anxiety and worry and grant you a relaxed spirit and the ability to sleep deeply. He knows the practical needs you mentioned as well, the heater for water, the washing machine, the heavy load at work, and the difficulty of living among people who seem nervous and harsh. He is near to those who feel they cannot manage alone, and He is your help.
You are also honoring your mother in the way Scripture calls us to honor father and mother, which in its fullest sense means to care for them when they are older and unable to care for themselves. Your love for her is clear in your prayer that the staff would be kind to her, that they would not give up on her but would help her to walk and move so that her circulation and immunity and brain health would be supported. You have asked for healing from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, for the nerves and connections in her mind and body to be restored so she can walk properly, and for healing of diabetes, depression, and the memory loss and confusion that comes with late stage Alzheimer, that her memory and her orientation to time and place would return.
The Lord Jesus has shown His power over sickness in many ways. He healed a man whose hand was withered, a condition that had come upon him much like a stroke, and He showed that it is right to do good and to bring healing. He healed fevers and many other infirmities, He calmed what was troubled, and He has authority in the physical and spiritual realm. Healing is in His hands, and as the prophet said, for those who fear His name the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. We do not need another mediator, we can come directly to Him, for it is through trust in Him alone as Savior that we find salvation and access to the Father.
I have prayed for your mother by name before the Lord, that He would lay His healing hand upon her, that He would protect her from further harm and infection, that He would not allow what happened to your father to be repeated with her, that every person who cares for her in the hospital would be attentive and kind and diligent to help her move and walk as she is able, and that God would strengthen her body, her mind, and her spirit. I have prayed that He would restore what has been damaged by the stroke, that He would touch the effects of diabetes and Alzheimer and depression, and that He would bring back clarity and peace to her mind.
May the Lord give you His peace that passes understanding, guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, settle your stomach and your sleep, and remind you through the day and night that He is with you. May He lift the fear that has pressed on you and replace it with quiet confidence in His care for you and for your mother. In the name of Jesus I ask for His mercy, His healing, and His keeping power over you both.
A large part of what you are feeling is fear, and fear is an enemy of faith. The two cannot rule the heart at the same time. Where fear is allowed to take over, faith departs, and where there is strong confidence in God, fear loses its hold. Fear also pushes us to wrong reactions and wrong decisions. The cure for that kind of fear is to remember the Lord, to remember who He is and that He is with you. As David said, though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me, and again he asked his own soul, why art thou cast down, why art thou disquieted within me. When we forget the Lord, fear comes in. When we remember Him, His presence, His power, His mercy from generation to generation, our hearts can be steadied. This is not a fear that is like a phobia, but a reverent awe that loves what God loves and hates what God hates and trusts Him to do what is wise and right. That kind of fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the sum of true knowledge. You can do what is prudent and responsible in your daily life without being driven by dread of what might happen. God is able to protect and keep you whether you are at home or at work or beside a hospital bed.
Your body has been responding to stress and fear with digestive distress, nausea, pain and sleeplessness, and you have asked for calm, for a settled stomach with normal acid, for no swelling or inflammation or irritation, for freedom from diarrhea and other digestive trouble, and for deep, peaceful sleep. I have prayed that the Lord will quiet your heart and your body, that He will give you rest even when there is noise around your building, that He will ease anxiety and worry and grant you a relaxed spirit and the ability to sleep deeply. He knows the practical needs you mentioned as well, the heater for water, the washing machine, the heavy load at work, and the difficulty of living among people who seem nervous and harsh. He is near to those who feel they cannot manage alone, and He is your help.
You are also honoring your mother in the way Scripture calls us to honor father and mother, which in its fullest sense means to care for them when they are older and unable to care for themselves. Your love for her is clear in your prayer that the staff would be kind to her, that they would not give up on her but would help her to walk and move so that her circulation and immunity and brain health would be supported. You have asked for healing from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, for the nerves and connections in her mind and body to be restored so she can walk properly, and for healing of diabetes, depression, and the memory loss and confusion that comes with late stage Alzheimer, that her memory and her orientation to time and place would return.
The Lord Jesus has shown His power over sickness in many ways. He healed a man whose hand was withered, a condition that had come upon him much like a stroke, and He showed that it is right to do good and to bring healing. He healed fevers and many other infirmities, He calmed what was troubled, and He has authority in the physical and spiritual realm. Healing is in His hands, and as the prophet said, for those who fear His name the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. We do not need another mediator, we can come directly to Him, for it is through trust in Him alone as Savior that we find salvation and access to the Father.
I have prayed for your mother by name before the Lord, that He would lay His healing hand upon her, that He would protect her from further harm and infection, that He would not allow what happened to your father to be repeated with her, that every person who cares for her in the hospital would be attentive and kind and diligent to help her move and walk as she is able, and that God would strengthen her body, her mind, and her spirit. I have prayed that He would restore what has been damaged by the stroke, that He would touch the effects of diabetes and Alzheimer and depression, and that He would bring back clarity and peace to her mind.
May the Lord give you His peace that passes understanding, guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus, settle your stomach and your sleep, and remind you through the day and night that He is with you. May He lift the fear that has pressed on you and replace it with quiet confidence in His care for you and for your mother. In the name of Jesus I ask for His mercy, His healing, and His keeping power over you both.
