September Devo for Buchanan - Oh Yes He Cares

I have this song stuck in my head, and I don’t mind.  As I write this we had just listened to the hymn, “Does Jesus Care?” as part of our Spiritual Reflections.

The composer, Frank Graeff, a Methodist pastor in Philadelphia, was normally so cheerful he was known as the Sunshine Minister.  But like a solar eclipse, sometimes the sunlight in our life is overshadowed by difficult challenges, like some of us may be experiencing right now!  For Rev. Graeff it was a painful prolonged illness which led to deep despondency and doubt.  He really wondered for the first time if Jesus did care. 

But after turning to God’s Word, He experienced an inexplicable peace when he read the words “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you!”  (1 Peter 5:7 NLT).  That’s when the inspiration hit him for the chorus:

O yes, He cares - I know He cares!

His heart is touched with my grief;

When the days are weary,

the long nights dreary,

I know my Savior cares.

According to the picture below, featuring Tigger, Piglet and the Pooh:  “Friends are God’s way of taking care of us!”  The Chaplains of Buchanan like to think of themselves in that way - your friends offering God’s care whenever you need Him.

Well, our circle of friends has just grown again. We’ve welcomed to our current team of caring part-time chaplains (Ross, Lynn, Ed and me) some new “spiritual care volunteers”. They will be offering  extra companionship and spiritual support to our residents through extended one-on-one visits. Each of these volunteers, as well as our four chaplains, have been well-trained in providing pastoral care. But what qualifies them the most for what we all do here is how much they genuinely care!

Let’s all get these words stuck in our heads, and hearts:

“Oh yes, He cares - I know He cares!”