Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

Author interviews highlight Loving Your Friend through Cancer

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I’ve done two interviews recently and would love for you to check them out for behind-the-scenes info about Loving Your Friend through Cancer!

First, I answered questions from Lynne Hartke. She’s a writer, speaker, cancer survivor, and author of Under a Desert Sky: Redefining Hope, Beauty, and Faith in Hardest Places. You can find the interview here on her blog.

I also did an interview with my publisher, P&R Publishing. If you’re curious about my favorite food or my advice for aspiring writers, you can find that interview here on their blog.

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Suffering Produces Hope {No Matter What Monday}

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Last week, we looked at the foundation of our joy: the grace of God and His free gift of eternal life in Christ. Heaven seems like a great reason to rejoice, right? But in the next verse of Romans 5, Paul throws a curveball:

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings . . .” (Romans 5:3a)

Wait, what? I’m on board with rejoicing in the thought of eternal glory, but rejoicing in suffering? You better explain yourself, Paul!

“ . . . Knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” (Romans 5:3b-4)

I’d love to develop endurance, character, and hope. But if I’m honest, I’d rather enjoy a comfortable, easy, suffering-free life. I lose interest my character development quickly if it requires suffering to get there.

However, God is more concerned with my character than my comfort. He is working to conform me to the likeness of His Son, not to conform my lifestyle to match my neighbor’s. Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic and cancer survivor, says it this way: “Sometimes God permits what He hates to accomplish what He loves.”

God hates suffering, illness, tragedy, and death. But in His mysterious sovereignty, He uses suffering to accomplish what He loves: teaching His beloved children endurance, growing our character, and giving us hope. As our earthly foundations crumble through suffering, we see that the only true source of hope is the Lord. Suffering is not good. But finding our hope in the Lord is very good indeed.

No matter what you face this week, your suffering will produce something wonderful—hope in the Lord.

 

This devotional originally appeared on my blog on July 11, 2016. I’m taking a break from writing this month to spend more time with my family and hope you enjoy these replays!

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When Motherhood Meets Cancer {Guest Appearance at Risen Motherhood}

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In October 2010, my husband and I sat on the floor in our boys’ bedroom as they ran around us in a pre-bedtime frenzy. Surrounded by bunk beds, toys, and trains, we told our young sons I had cancer.

When the doctor called earlier that afternoon, I expected him to say the lump in my breast was breast cancer or not breast cancer. Instead, I heard a strange new word: angiosarcoma. When I typed it into Google, I quickly understood why the doctor’s tone had been so serious.

Angiosarcoma has a five-year survival rate of 30%. My boys were six and four, and their little sister was 18 months old. I closed my tear-filled eyes and started begging the Lord to give us those five years. I wasn’t bold enough to ask for more.

Over the next several months, I endured seven rounds of chemotherapy, most of which involved a clinical trial at a Cancer Center, 600 miles from home. Chemo was followed by five weeks of radiation and then surgery, all out of town. I spent a total of fourteen weeks away from my family, sacrificing months with the hope of gaining years.

I wrestled through many questions during my cancer battle and the tenuous years that followed.

Could I trust the Lord to care for my children even if losing me was part of their story?

Would he meet their needs when I could not?

And at the end of this, would they be emotionally scarred or would they be spiritually stronger?

The Lord met me in that questioning place with the truth of his word. The questions never vanished, but he taught me to cling to his promises as the uncertainty raged around me.

To read the entire post, head over to Risen Motherhood – it’s one of my favorite blogs. I hope you’ll take a look around while you’re there and check out their podcast for some wonderful, gospel-centered encouragement for moms! 

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You Have a Reason to Rejoice {No Matter What Monday}

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What makes you happy?

A good night’s sleep? A delicious dinner you didn’t have to cook? A new pair of shoes? (Those are all near the top of my list!)

These small blessings bring happiness, but often those feelings are fleeting. We enjoy dinner out with friends and then our mood sours because an inconsiderate driver cuts us off on our way home. We’re ecstatic about our new shoes until we see someone else with a pair we’d rather have. And when we struggle with ongoing, difficult circumstances, happiness can be hard to find—no matter how many pairs of shoes we buy.

Last week, we saw in Romans 5:1 that we have peace with God through faith in Christ. In the next verse, we read that we always have a reason to rejoice:

“Through [Christ] we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:2)

Because of Christ, we have a secure standing before God and a firm hope in eternal life. We stand in the grace of Christ’s righteousness given to us. He gives us the promise that we will share in God’s glory one day in Heaven. This is an unchanging reason to rejoice!

This week as you face difficulties, cling to the promise that you stand secure in God’s grace and the hope of eternity with Him. And as Paul says in Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

No matter what you face this week, God’s promises give you a reason to rejoice.

 

This devotional originally appeared on my blog on July 4, 2016. I’m taking a break from writing this month to spend more time with my family and hope you enjoy these replays!

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