I apologize for the 2-month lapse in blog posts. I have been swamped with caring for aging parents. To be honest, I am writing this in November. If you will forgive me for back-dating the blog posts, I will attempt to catch up the 2 months which have been lost. And I will attempt to share what God has been teaching me though this season of caregiving.
The last time I was able to write for the blog I was pondering the life of the Apostle Paul while he was under house arrest in ancient Rome. The last blog post I wrote was about the Ministry Team which was with Paul in Rome … specifically Paul’s ministry helper, Doctor Luke.
Ok … so Luke was a doctor and was with Paul. Makes sense. We all know that.
But all of this really came to life for me when, in September, I had to go to my own doctor because my ear was clogged with ear wax and I was having a hard time hearing. It was just something small. Should be a simple fix.
As I drove to my doctor’s apt. I wondered if Paul ever had a clogged ear. Did Paul ever have a hard time hearing?
I bet Paul did indeed have hearing problems … after all he had been stoned (almost to death). Having had rocks thrown at his head surely would have caused a bit of head damage, and potentially hearing loss??
As I sat on the end of the exam table in the doctor’s office while the Medical Assistant took my blood pressure, both she and I were shocked when the blood pressure machine registered: 172/89.
Surely that can’t be right.
The MA dismissed the results as a mistake and re-took my blood pressure.
No … it was correct.
To be honest, that is a really really bad blood pressure. I had no idea the stress of caregiving for aging parents was doing that to my blood pressure. I have never had high blood pressure in my entire life.
My doctor was very concerned. And rightly so.
She gave me something to help with my earwax problem (which worked miracles, by the way!), and she discussed the importance of getting my blood pressure under control or I would need to consider going on blood pressure medication.
I left the doctor’s office that day thinking about the Apostle Paul. I bet the Apostle Paul had high blood pressure. How could he not have had high blood pressure, considering everything he had been through.
He had been stoned. That would have caused high blood pressure!
He was the cause of many mob riots. That would have caused high blood pressure!
He had been beaten (unjustly) then thrown in prison. Being beaten for sure would have caused super high blood pressure!
Paul stood trial before many important influential governmental leaders, offering his own defense. That would have caused high blood pressure!
Paul was a prisoner on the ship, bound for Rome, caught in the dreadful winter storm … where everyone on board fully expected to die. That would have caused high blood pressure!
The ship ran aground on a reef and was broken apart in the battering waves of the storm! Everyone abandoned the ship, jumping into the raging waters in an attempt to make it to land! That would have caused high blood pressure!
Doctor Luke was with Paul … but Doctor Luke didn’t have a blood-pressure-taker. There was no blood pressure medication available back then.
How did Paul survive high blood pressure, considering everything he had been through??
Paul was right in the exact place God wanted him to be … doing exactly what God wanted him to be doing. And God was taking care of him. So to be honest, it didn’t really matter what his blood pressure numbers were. God was taking care of his blood pressure.
I found great comfort in this.
In my current season of caregiving for aging parents I feel like my body is stretched to its breaking point. My blood pressure is doing things it has never done before. I’m so consumed with all the many pressing needs, I honestly do not have time to walk an hour every morning to try to get my blood pressure under control.
I honestly don’t have the physical strength for all the demands on me right now.
But I know I am in the exact place God wants me to be right now … doing exactly what God wants me to be doing. And just like God took care of the Apostle Paul, God is taking care of me. So to be honest, it really doesn’t matter. God will take care of my health.
Are you in a season of intense pressure and stress? If so, take comfort in the fact that God will take care of you too. No matter what.
