My Grace is Enough
A Broken Hallelujah
Sharon W. Betters
Today’s Treasure
….and then He told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9 The Message
Dear Friends,
Over the next two weeks you will hear from two women whose broken hallelujahs will encourage and inspire you though you may not have experienced the shattered hearts they describe. I love each of them deeply and have had the privilege of walking in some of their dark places with them. Tomorrow, Elizabeth Eno, my niece, starts us off with “There is no easy way to say this.” In the twenty-second week of her pregnancy, Elizabeth and her husband, Jason, learned that their little baby girl’s heartbeat had stopped beating.
Elizabeth takes us through some of those first hours and days of digging deep into her identity as a child of God and choosing to believe that God’s grace is enough. She shares some of the treasures in the darkness that the Lord sent her way to help turn her heart toward Him, to remind her that even in this grievous place, He is her God and He calls her by name.
Once again, we see that though we may never have experienced such a loss, God’s Word is alive. The truths that are guiding Elizabeth and Jason through the maze of grief resonate with any place of sorrow. Elizabeth’s story will encourage you to believe that though the pain goes deep, the Lord promises to go deeper, but lest you think this is a sugar coated, clichéd response to anguish, think again. God’s grace is sufficient but it is not an anesthetic. Yet I invite you to allow God to use Elizabeth’s broken hallelujah to demonstrate once more that through His grace sorrow and joy find a way to walk hand in hand in our lives when we are safely in His grip.
Treasured by Him,
Sharon
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
Losing a child in utero is more prevalent than we might expect. It is one of those grievous losses that grab our attention for a while but then we go on with our lives while the broken hearted parents try to find that new normal. Ask the Lord to bring to mind a friend or co-worker who may need the encouragement that Elizabeth offers through her story. It will only take you a minute to pass on this devotional series and invite them to join you in reading them and then perhaps meet up for lunch or coffee to give you an opportunity to come alongside her so she knows that you have not forgotten.
Are there other women in your life who could benefit from a daily dose of encouragement? Forward this email so they can click on this link to Subscribe to Daily Treasure to be better equipped to walk by faith on the pathway God has marked out for them.
Sharon W. Betters is author of Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, co-author of Treasures of Faith. and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture. She is Director of Resource Development and co-founder of MARKINC.org, a non-profit organization that offers help and hope to hurting people. Sharon enjoys quality time with her husband, children, fourteen grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.