No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus

I have been restlessly waiting for over a year to write my first post on this blog. I have sat down numerous times and started, only to feel the time was not yet right. The topic was not yet fully revealed. I knew I wanted to write about things I have experienced, but also to write words that would encourage and lift up my readers. Thank you, by the way, for taking time out of your day to read this. I also wanted to be sure that while I was sharing bits and pieces of my story, I was sharing HIS story. That He being Jesus Christ, my Saviour, my Strong Tower, my Comforter, my Friend. 

For those who don’t know me, I’ll share a bit of my back story to give you context. I am a short, hence the “little,” single mom to four kids, ages 5-12. I grew up in beautiful Southwestern Ontario and moved to the equally beautiful Saskatchewan prairies in 2007 after meeting and falling in love with a tall, handsome farmer. We got married in 2008 and had a love and drama-filled but all-too-brief 11 years together. In future posts I will cover more bits of our story which included times of struggle through health, finances, mental health – just to name a few – but also moments of great joy. 

Just over two years ago, in December 2019, I lost my husband to a work-related accident. I suddenly found myself the sole owner of a farm I didn’t want, the sole decision maker, the sole parent to four beautiful but deeply grieving children. All while my own soul was crushed. I can still vividly remember a moment on the night of the accident, I’m not even sure I can describe it, it was like the dust from the rubble of my crumbling world cleared away and I felt a strength seep into my being along with a call to rise up and take that first step. I knew from that moment that God was leading me forward and He would sustain me on the path ahead. 

Music has always been my comfort of choice. There is something about a song that just reaches into those deep places in my heart and sets the emotions free. A few short months after my husband died, musician Steffany Gretzinger released a song titled, “No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus.” I connected with this song the first time I heard it. I have shed so many healing tears to this beautiful song and this past Sunday, I had the opportunity to sing this song for my church family. I am no where near as good a singer as Steffany but I appreciated the opportunity to share it nonetheless. 

No one ever cared for me like Jesus. His faithful hand has held me all this way. When I’m old and grey and all my days are numbered on the earth, let it be known, in You alone, my joy was found. 

I have reflected on these words over and over again for the past two years and I’d like to share a bit of why I find them so significant. You may think I am implying that no one has ever cared for me. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I am not naive to the fact that the amount of support and care I have received, especially over the last two years, is not common to most people. I have been incredibly well cared for in every aspect from the community who showed up in the initial days to take care of my cattle, the volunteers who spent weeks cleaning up the farm and preparing it for the auction and sale. The meals that came for months and still occasionally come, two years later. The hugs, cards, letters, donations – the list could go on and on. My closest friends and confidants who come at night after the children are in bed – both for comfort when I need it but also simply for that chance to talk and laugh with another adult. People have cared for me in so many ways. Yet, people always have to leave at some point and that’s okay. It has to be that way. It’s in those quiet, empty moments that Jesus meets me. This is where He comforts me. This is where He renews my strength when I say I can’t go on and He whispers right back “Yes, you can.” Jesus doesn’t just give me a shove and send me on my way, He takes me by the hand. He leads me. He restores my soul (Psalm 23). 

No one ever cared for me like Jesus. Because no one else can. The only one who can reach into the hidden intricacies of my heart, is the One who created it in the first place. The One who knew me before I was even formed in my mother’s womb. The One who knew the journey my life would take before I had even lived a day. The One who goes before me, comes behind me and walks beside me. His faithful hand has held me all this way. This, my friends, is where my joy is found. 

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. – Psalm 139:1-14 ESV