The Bottom Line, Ministries Christian News, Articles, & Poetry 
Recently, someone remarked that after a major operation, people may require a caregiver. That thought triggered the idea for this article. Jesus cares about one’s emotional, physical, and spiritual needs. He is The Great caregiver! First Peter 5:7 says to “cast all your care upon him, for he cares for you.” The Greek meaning of care is anxiety, and anxiety is the opposite of peace. There can be a lack of peace when it comes to emotional, physical, and spiritual needs not being met.
Emotional needs:
Jesus is “near to the broken-hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit”(Psalm 34:18). Psalm 147:3 adds to this. “He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.”
Physical needs:
2 Corinthians 9:8-11, says in the context of being a generous giver, that your giving will come back to you abundantly many times over. Some times this will be in the form of practical, physical needs being met. I have had experiences where I had needs I could do nothing about. God provided in astounding and unexpected ways, not just with money, but by providing a car to drive and even a good house to live in.
Spiritual needs:
Jesus is the “Bread of Life” and the “Living Water.” For those who are spiritually hungry and thirsty, he will provide everlasting nourishment for the soul (John 6:35). Do you feel poor and defenseless, with no person to help you? Psalm 72:12 says, “He delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper.” Jesus cares about your direction in life. He “will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go, he will counsel you with his eye upon you”(Psalm 32:8). Jesus cares not only about your life direction, but also your protection, as expressed in Psalm 121:7-8. “The Lord will keep you from all evil, he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in…”
I mentioned at the beginning that the Greek meaning of care is anxiety, and that anxiety is the opposite of peace. Well, here is a verse for that. Philippians 4: 6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
I will close with a quote from J. I. Packer. God “knows me as a friend, one who loves me, and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters.” (J. I. Packer, “Knowing God,” pages 41-42, Intervarsity Press, 1973)
Hey John,
I’m always amazed how He is with us 24/7—and never takes any break from loving or watching us.
Thanks for the great message and passages to support how Great our God is!
Wonder promises you chose and a clear explanation for them as well as your personal experiences.
This is always a timely reminder as this emotion can pop up quickly when life seems to be falling apart and you feel a sense of shock and dismay creeping into you mind and soul.
Loved the quote you shared. It is the answer we need to find the kind of peace that only God can give.
My husband and I had three major challenges regarding his health. In 1989 he was thirsting often and having other problems to the point that the doctor wanted to have him admitted to the hospital. It came to find out that he had type 1 diabetes know as a juvenile disease at the age of 46.
After that initial shock he had to start living a different lifestyle. A few months later he developed a dry cough. He had been instructed to call the doctor in order to have prescriptions so that the medication didn’t contain added sweeteners. They wasn’t sugar free cough medicine over the counter back then. After a few days it wasn’t working for him so he called to see if there was something else. To our surprise they told him to go right to the hospital. So we headed over there and as he was registering, he fainted.
He was in the hospital for a number of days and he had no appetite and lost a staggering 40 lbs. There were 4 specialist working to figure out what was going on. I got a call from the doctor to come right away to the hospital. He took me aside and told me that my husband has wegener’s disease which he said was very rare. He explained that the disease travels through the blood stream and attacks the body’s organs. He said you can tract it by the redness along his veins. When I asked if there was a cure, I was told the he couldn’t be treated for it because of his diabetes.
That was what caused him to be diabetic in the first place. It took out his pancreas and one kidney. The found the cells in his liver as well. The doctor said their hands were tied. He was going to release him and his prognosis was that he would have about 6 months to live.
I cannot explain the shock but going forward God stepped in right that moment and I had no anxiety about this and He gave us strength to accept whatever happens this time forward. I was a stay at home mom so I had no income. Grateful that he had a supervisor position so he would still be receiving an income for a period of time.
We drove 3 hours to a facility in another state to visit a doctor recommended by his doctor. They also removed his one kidney in the hospital next to this facility. Then we were scheduled to return every other week. A suggestion was made to try a new experimental treatment that was similar to dialysis. We needed to talk it over with one another before making such a decision. Well after a short time the doctor was seeing some improvement with his test results so they put this on hold. Then the visits were less and less to the point that they didn’t need to see him any more. A doctor stated that they were perplexed and profound by his improvements but we openly stated that it is the Lord’s doing. They had his case written down regarding it being so unusual one and they didn’t need to see him again..
It was a miraculous time with no thought of worrying about it.
We actually had our pastor come with elders from our church along with his boss from work to anoint him and pray over him at one time.
He found enough strength to go shopping with me one day and we ended up in a pet store and he bought me a basset hound puppy. He said I know you have wanted one. Another good thing that helped for my husband. He really bonded with her and they had many years of adventures in the ‘to go truck.’
A funny moment was when he took off with her and they ended up at a fast food restaurant. He order burgers for them both but it was a comical moment when our hound tried to go through the drive thru window once she got a sniff of that food, to the delight of the person by the window.
Just so to give you a chuckle.
God is so good.
I loved this quote at the end from Packer, thank you for sharing this with us John and reminding me that the Creator of the Universe is our friend.
he cares for us.. hallelujah