Guest post by Lettie Kirkpatrick Whisman

My only daughter lived nineteen years with a terminal muscle disease—she never walked or weighed more than fifty-five pounds. She had to be dressed, toileted, bathed, placed in her motorized chair, and assisted with the details of her day. But Shela’s contented heart, contagious smile, and love for Jesus gave me a daily visual of God’s great heart for the helpless.

I received another visual when my husband’s post-stroke disability required that he be bathed, dressed, and often fed. My once strong hiking partner endured his helplessness with patience and courage as he celebrated every small victory toward recovery. He accepted the necessary assistance and modeled dignity, faith, and relentless determination. His hope often spoke conviction into my weary caregiving.

I find myself pushing back when God places me in positions of dependence or helplessness. That is not surprising as today’s culture devalues those who cannot “carry their weight” or “pay their way.” Even churches might seem to applaud productivity and ministry in a way that can make the less able feel “less than.”

Yet I sense God, true to His character, loves to see us acknowledging our neediness and hitting our knees to receive the strength His word promises is available to the weak. It also gives us a testimony that allows others to embrace their own helplessness.

When we know we are helpless to fix what is broken, to make better what is bad, to believe we can survive even this, He is on the way! Does a trial seem endless and beyond redemption? Wonderful! He is waiting for us to remember His power is in us through the presence of His Spirit. Now we can run to His strength, His word, His grace . . . and hold on for dear life.

“I rise before dawn and cry out for help; I have put my hope in your word.”
Psalm 119:147 NIV

Lettie Kirkpatrick Whisman‘s “credentials” to write from the perspective of a caregiver are solid. She gave ongoing care to her special needs daughter for nineteen years, her elderly grandmother for thirteen years, and to her beloved late husband for five years. Find her books and bio at www.writingforhim.com

Tracy Crump dispenses hope in her award-winning book, Health, Healing, and Wholeness: Devotions of Hope in the Midst of Illness (CrossLink Publishing, 2021). A former intensive care nurse, she cared for her parents and her mother-in-law and understands both the burdens and joys of caregiving. Her devotions have been featured in Guideposts books, The Upper Room, and many other publications, and she has contributed 22 stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul® books. She also conducts writing workshops, freelance edits, and proofreads for Farmers’ Almanac. But her most important job is Grandma to five completely unspoiled grandchildren.