My Hope is From Him
by Sharon W. Betters
Today’s Treasure
Sometimes all we can see is the crisis at hand. We pray for relief and often miss the treasures in the darkness God sends to help turn our hearts toward Him. I almost missed a priceless treasure in the middle of this chaos that helped me walk a steady path when the twins’ birth moved the earth beneath my feet. I loved those babies as soon as I knew they were on their way, from the moment Heidi told us she was pregnant with twins. Twins! I, myself, had hoped to give birth to twins. How incredible that God chose our daughter and her husband to parent these two little ones. Little did any of us know the spiritual journey God wanted us to experience through their births.
I wanted to put aside my writing project more than once to relieve some of the stress I felt. As I look back, I realize that God used the writing to strengthen me and help me walk a steady path during those difficult and frightening days.
One of my goals in writing Treasures in Darkness: A Grieving Mother Shares Her Heart required me to read old journals that I wrote as I grieved. When we lost Mark, I wanted someone ahead of me in the journey to guide me through this foreign land of Grief. I read every book I could find on grief. Most of them were written years after the loss and focused on the healing and joy the author now experienced. They were helpful, but I longed for more. I had kept a record of my sorrow and maybe there were others who needed that kind of roadmap, too. Maybe I was that person who needed to write this book.
That summer when our world shifted, my writing project sent me back to those journals where God reminded me of His tender love and extreme comfort. The record of His intimate love and unique treasures from Him overwhelmed me. My journals of the past ten years shouted to me in that scary summer:
“God is here right now, right in this room with me, just as He was when those early years of grief almost destroyed me. He carried me when I could not stand on my own, no matter what happens now, I can trust Him to carry us again through this terrifying season.”
I would not have remembered those years of His personal touch and treasures if I had not been steeped in this writing project. God sent hope through the record of His love and care during the worst time of my life.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
Note what David says in Today’s Treasure. His hope is FROM God. He finds rest in God alone, his salvation comes from God and his hope is from God because God is his rock, his salvation and his fortress.
David’s declaration rises from the depths of dark, broken places. He concludes, “my soul is still only if turned to God” or “My soul is still if focused on God alone.” His declaration turns his thoughts from terror to focusing on God’s character who is his Rock, Rest, Rescue and Refuge.
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At first David saw his enemies through the grid of fear and hurt and a sense of betrayal. Now he sees himself and their behavior through the grid of God’s character and the fact that only God is his Salvation (rescue). Focusing on God gives him a firm footing in a shaken world. He finds refuge in his fortress. By standing on the Rock, which is God, David’s perspective changes. Yes, the assaults, hurtful words and lies still hurt and endanger his reputation. But no matter what happens to him in this life, David concludes that God will eternally rescue him, because God, nothing else, is his Salvation and Refuge.
God IS our Rock, Rest, Rescue and Refuge if we belong to Jesus. Are you His? Start your day with thanks that you can trust Him as your Rest, Rescue and Refuge no matter what comes your way.
Sharon is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.
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