My mother just moved into our home 3 weeks ago. In fact, I haven’t written much since March
because I’ve been helping my husband paint.
He’s been building a second story onto our home and I finally had a job
I could help with . . . so how could I pass up the opportunity?
But back to my mother.
8 years ago, when my husband and I moved back to my home town, the Lord
laid my mother on our hearts. We bought
a home that she could move into, should we add the needed extra space. She plays the piano, and has a lot of
stuff. Now she happily lives with us and
has quite a lot of room in which to enjoy her independence.
If my mother would have moved in when we originally bought
our home, she would have had more independence to enjoy. 8 years ago she drove, walked, and did
everything for herself. Now she has no
balance, uses a walker, and even with people in the same room, falls over. She cracked 3 ribs on the second day she
after she moved in.
Are you thinking “what a nightmare”? Many would not think this to be God’s calling
for anyone. Yet the Lord cares deeply
for the elderly, and wants very much for us to care for our parents. Though
Jesus asks us to forsake our families, from the cross He asked John to care for
his mother as if she were John’s own.
“When Jesus saw his mother there,
and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Dear
woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that
time on, this disciple took her into his home.” (Jn 19:26-27).
Jesus meant for us to place service to God in its rightful
place, not being hindered by tradition or obligations. But He did not say to turn our backs on our
parents when they need us. Yet some
think they should bury their old parents’ needs in order to serve the Lord.
Old women seem to be the bane of churches, in some people’s
eyes. Perhaps they seem too needy. In the New Testament, some of the believers
neglected the widows, not even giving them their food. If the Apostles had thought these widows to
be too needy, would they have begun a ministry towards them? The 12 not only began a ministry for the
distribution of food to widows, but set the standard of ministers high. The 7 men chosen for this ministry needed to
be “full of the Spirit and Wisdom.” (Acts 6:4).
The Apostles even laid hands on them.
I think this was a ministry that was important to the leaders of the
Church.
We can follow 2 of the 7 men chosen to minister to widows in
Acts; Stephen and Phillip. Lest we think
that tending to widows or old people is a dead-end street as far as ministry
goes, when reading about these 2 men we see that perhaps their care of the
elderly was God’s prerequisite for their ministry. Stephen was a mighty speaker of the Gospel of
Christ, and the Church’s 1st martyr (see Acts 6 & 7). Philip preached, did miracles, cast out
demons and healed the sick. He obeyed an
angel and had a divine appointment with an Ethiopian eunuch on the road, and
was later translated to preach in another area (Acts 8). Pretty exciting and powerful ministries for
those who had been entrusted with the welfare of widows.
God will not forsake His calling on you if you take care of
your parents when they need you. In
fact, your love and obedience are the prerequisite to the fulfillment of your
destiny in the Kingdom. In a time when
many leaders in ministry charge money to train Christians in prophecy, healing,
and the working of miracles, let me say that I believe they have missed the
truth contained in the Bible. Caring for
people shows the Lord we are able to be responsible for the Kingdom works, and
caring for the most needy brings His blessings on our ministry. Amen.
