Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

Trust the Lord’s Perfect Ways {No Matter What Monday}

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2017.03.13 (1)

The story is a family legend—an instant classic that’s been told countless times around the dinner table. When my daughter was a toddler, she was playing with her favorite baby doll and her play kitchen. She cradled her baby in her arms, and then opened the wooden microwave door and placed the doll inside, as if laying her in a crib filled with down pillows. As she pushed imaginary buttons, she spoke reassuringly, “It’s okay baby, I’m going to cook you now.”

Even if you hadn’t heard the legend, you wouldn’t trust my daughter, at age two, to care for your baby. She clearly had no idea how to care for a child! Her babysitting skills would be wildly unpredictable. Even now, at age seven, I wouldn’t leave her alone with a small child for more than about 30 seconds.

But when it comes to caring for us, God is perfectly wise. All that He does is right. Therefore, we can trust Him, even when we don’t understand. Even when His plans make about as much sense as putting a baby in a microwave.

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)

The Lord is our unchanging Rock. All His ways are perfect (Psalm 18:30). He cannot do anything imperfectly, because His perfection, wisdom, and power are woven into every bit of His character. We can take our worries, fears, hopes, plans, loved ones, dreams, and heartaches and leave them in the hands of the One who handles them perfectly.

No matter what you face this week, you can trust the Lord’s perfect ways.

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Count on God’s Unchanging Character {No Matter What Monday}

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2017.03.06 (2)

My husband opened the front door to see two small boys holding a shoebox of rocks. They confidently made their sales pitch: rocks for sale, five cents each. Knowing my tendency to buy everything neighborhood kids are selling, my husband asked them, “Have you successfully sold your rocks here before?” Yes, they answered. My husband knew he would soon be the owner of a few new rocks.

Those young rock salesmen targeted our house, hoping to make a sale as they had in the past. They expected our willingness to pay a nickel for a rock from their yard to be the same as it had been the week before.

As God’s children, we get to expect the same from Him. We can put our confidence in His consistent character. God’s Word teaches us that He never changes.

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)

He loves you today just as much as the day His Son died on the cross for you. He demonstrates the same faithfulness now as when He carried you through a difficult time. You can rest securely in His arms, because He won’t be different next year or ten years from now or a thousand years from now. The Lord never changes. When you pin your hopes on Him, you’re not throwing darts at a moving target and hoping one sticks. You’re clinging to a steadfast Rock that stands firm through the ages.

No matter what you face this week, you can count on God’s unchanging character.

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Our Suffering has a Glorious End {No Matter What Monday}

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1 peter 5-10

Why do days filled with mundane tasks tick by so slowly, and vacation days fly by so fast? January and February feel like they will never end, and June just goes zipping by. Happy times seem like minutes compared to seasons of suffering that seem endless.

And  yet, today’s verse takes a different view of time. In God’s timeline, our time of suffering slips by quickly, and our time of glory stretches without end.

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (I Peter 5:10)

Peter says, “After you have suffered a little while . . .” Does this make you want to roll your eyes?! Or maybe scream at Peter that he has no idea what he’s talking about? Our suffering doesn’t feel temporary!

Peter understood that suffering sometimes seems endless, but he also understood the truth about the “God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ.” Here, Peter highlights the contrast between our temporary suffering and our eternal glory in Christ. Our present trials are like a gnat on the Mt. Everest of eternity with Christ.

As the verse promises, “God will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” The Lord will bring this to an end—the outcome doesn’t depend on us. It’s a gift of His grace in Christ. He will restore us. He will confirm our position as His children. He will strengthen us by His mercy. He will establish us as heirs of His promises.

One of God’s purposes in our suffering is to point us to its glorious end. One day, He will turn evil on its head and our joy will be sweeter because of our pain. As Tim Keller says, “The evil that hurts us now will be the eventual servant of our joy and glory eternally.”

No matter what we face this week, there will be a glorious end to our suffering.

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God Uses Our Suffering to Produce Steadfastness {No Matter What Monday}

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james 1-2-4

Quick, answer this question: what’s 3 times 8?

As a parent, there are three major hurdles I’ve jumped with my kids: potty training, learning to read, and memorizing multiplication tables. All three of my kids have conquered the first two skills. My youngest is about to start her times tables. I expect she’ll finish learning them in time for me to have a quick celebration . . . before it dawns on me that none of them know how to drive. (Yikes.)

As an adult, we take it for granted that we know our multiplication tables. But as an 8-year-old staring at the giant table of 144 numbers to learn, it seems overwhelming. Yes, there will probably be tears. For both of us. But the hours of drilling and repeating and chanting out loud, “3 times 1 is 3. 3 times 2 is 6. 3 times 3 is 9 . . .” will eventually result in my daughter instinctively knowing the answer to 3 times 8.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

In today’s passage, James is reminding his readers that God has a purpose in their suffering. The testing of their faith will produce steadfastness, and steadfastness will lead to spiritual maturity. James says we should count it all joy when our trials produce these traits in us.

Steadfastness and spiritual maturity may feel about as exciting to you as learning multiplication tables. But from the Lord’s perspective, our steadfastness is beautiful. Just as my daughter’s time memorizing math facts will not be wasted, your suffering will not be wasted. It will produce God’s desired effect: the growth of your faith and character, your perseverance in hope, and your full equipping for the next task God has for you. And from an eternal viewpoint, that’s a great reason to rejoice!

No matter what you face this week, God will use your suffering to produce steadfastness.

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