Lessons About Faith - What She Said Part 14 - Week 1 Day 1

TODAY'S TREASURE

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:11

Transcript

Lessons About Faith

Sharon Betters

Today’s Treasure

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:11

Dear Friends,

As we begin a brand new series of What She Said, I am struggling to find the words to describe how grateful I am to our guest writers who are challenging us to go deep into God’s Word. Yes, friends, they are taking us deep with just a few minutes each day, and I hope you recognize the treasures these writers are sharing with us. 

This week, Marissa Bondurant joins us again, and as I reviewed her devotions, I wanted to stop, pull out my Bible and journal, and open my mind and heart to her hard-earned message of God’s faithfulness in the unexpected and mundane. Marissa is one of those people ahead of us in life’s journey who is calling back, especially to caregivers, “God is sovereign and you can trust Him.” Marissa shares some of the “treasures in the darkness” God gave her in the years after her four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a tumor in her abdomen and even more after another daughter was diagnosed with a tumor as she grew in Marissa’s womb. While Marissa writes as a caregiver, believe me when I say these messages are for each of us. Each day, Marissa introduces us to a way Jesus was a caregiver to specific people throughout his life on earth and how He continues to be our caregiver. She reminds us that in all of our caregiving, God is caring for us. Marissa wraps up the week with these words: 

“Part of me wanted to laugh at her (the midwife). Surely, this was a joke. God wouldn’t do this to us. Another mass? In another of my precious children?

Our fourth daughter was born at the end of February 2020, and her medical journey began. As the rest of the world shut down, our family ramped up. Not only were we dealing with all the (good but hard) upheaval a newborn brings, but now we were trying to navigate medical appointments for two children in a climate when everything was cloaked with an additional layer of fear and stress.

For the next three years, we rode a rollercoaster. Nothing was straightforward. Our baby ended up needing surgery for her abdomen and then her eyes. Our older children were struggling with wave upon wave of trauma. We got several mental health diagnoses for one of our kids who needed medication and interventions to help her function. We had to switch up our education plans multiple times. We kept adding specialists to our phone book. I wanted so desperately for God to wrap up this season of caregiving with a neat bow. I wanted my daughters to be healthy and whole. I wanted to catch my breath and stop living on the adrenaline of crisis.

But God wanted to teach me about faith in the middle of all this.

Not the naïve faith that believes it’ll all work out the way we want. Nor the defeated faith of assuming God will do whatever He wants anyway, so why bother Him with our requests? But that messy faith that all caregivers walk in – where we have to weave in and out of hope and cling all the harder to what we know is true. 

In those years, I could imagine the life of an Israelite mother gathering manna day after day (Exodus 16). She didn’t know what was ahead for her children, she simply had to wake up every day and trust that God would provide.

God was faithful to her. God is faithful to me. And God will be faithful to you.” 

Marissa Bondurant, Daily Treasure,  What She Said, Saturday

Friends, it is such a privilege to bring back Marissa as a guest writer for Daily Treasure. You can learn more from Marissa in our Help & Hope podcast, Caregiver, Who Cares for You, and her book, Who Cares for You? 

Be sure to share this devotional with friends, leave a rating or comment if you are listening to the Daily Treasure podcast. And be blessed as you spend a few minutes with Marissa each day. 

Treasured by Him,

Sharon

PRAYER

Oh Father, how grateful we are for writers like Marissa, mothers like Marissa, sisters like Marissa, who are willing to share their hearts with us and to call back that You are sovereign, and You are good, and we can trust You. May we walk by faith today, better equipped by the words that we have just heard. In Your name I pray, amen.