by Sharon W. Betters

Today’s Treasure

Some of the most tender and intimate moments Chuck and I have experienced happen when we are the most broken by life. Such times are opportunities to remove any pretense, tear off masks and be completely vulnerable. Those are the moments I have felt the most loved by my husband.

And so it is with the Lord. When we are the most broken, He invites us to come into His presence, just as we are, no pretense, no masks, completely transparent and vulnerable. There we experience love like no other.

David experienced this kind of love and He wants God’s people to experience it as well. After describing his own struggles and the comfort He has in the Lord, David exhorts us to pour out our hearts to the Lord, to trust Him at all times. David doesn’t encourage us to ask God to be our Rock, Rest, Rescue and Refuge. He declares that God already is that place of safety for those who love Him. He is our refuge. What a tender picture of God’s love for frightened, broken people.

That emergency phone call and race to the hospital I mentioned yesterday happened on July 7, 2003, while I was getting a perm. Our “twinnies” refused to wait any longer and I needed to get to the hospital quickly. Three stylists pulled curlers from my hair and I rushed to the car, pleading for the Lord to protect these babies and our daughter. It was too soon for them to be born. Their little bodies weren’t ready. Would they survive? What if they didn’t? Having lost a child myself, I could not bear the thought of the grief our daughter and her husband would experience, let alone our grief for them and the loss of our grandchildren.

King David mentored me in those moments and Psalm 62 rushed into my brain:

Talk to yourself, Sharon. Speak truth into your heart. God is your refuge. You will not be shaken. He is your rest, rescue and rock. Trust Him.

Over and over again, I repeated those words, telling myself the truth as a weapon against my fear. Fear for the babies and our daughter filled my heart and Scripture was the only defense I could trust.

We welcomed Nathan and Abigail into our world. They were tiny, so tiny that their daddy could hold each one in the palm of his hand. We all smiled and tried not to be afraid.

Writing, you ask? A few minutes here, a few minutes there. Four grandchildren were a permanent fixture at our house when our eldest grandson, Markie, joined Danielle and Benjamin, and Emma because his mommy had extensive knee surgery that didn’t go well. Trips to the hospital to hold our little “twinnies” were the norm. Remember Dan, Laura and Emma living with us while their house was built? Well, there was no drought in Delaware that year as the rains came and came, so much rain that the builder had not moved one spade of dirt by mid-July, their moving in date.

And God must have smiled though Dan and Laura did not.

Heidi came home without her “twinnies.” The babies needed a few more weeks in the hospital to grow. The grands went home for a weekend visit. Chuck and I thought it was safe to plan a golf day as a break in the responsibilities. While stretching his legs, Chuck dislocated his hip. Cries of excruciating pain brought the neighbors running. I ran into the house and yelled for Laura to call 911. Our summer had been so stressful, she just looked at me and calmly picked up the phone as though my request was the most normal words she had heard.

God may have smiled. But I didn't. And neither did Chuck.

From our perspective, the summer stress increased.

LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT

David knew from personal experience that he could trust God as his rock. He wrote this Psalm in the middle of great personal struggles. He felt forsaken and attacked. Such feelings are fertile ground for the enemy to whisper lies against our God. In the middle of ongoing disappointments, have you ever thought, “God is not keeping His promises. I’m sinking and He doesn’t care. I’m forsaken, no one loves me the way I need to be loved. I have no friends. They have all betrayed me. Where is God when life stinks?”

People who pretended to be David’s friends spoke hateful words against him:

How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah

Psalm 62:3, 4 ESV

David fights the temptation to believe their lies by telling himself the truth. Right after calling out those who want to destroy him, He counsels himself with the promises and character of God:

Find rest, O my soul in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Psalm 62:5, 6 ESV

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Through David’s words, God calls us to trust Him, to find our identity in our relationship to Him as sons and daughters. Such truth combats any lie the enemy can throw at us.

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 d ailytreasure@markinc.org.

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Pour Out Your Heart Before Him