Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

God Will Supply Every Need {No Matter What Monday}

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phil 4-19

I’m wearing my Geek Badge proudly as I confess to you: I love packing my kids’ backpacks for the first day of school. The shiny folders. The unmarred notebooks. The textbooks just begging to be cracked open. And the spotless pencil box, filled with perfectly sharpened pencils, a clean glue stick, and every single one of the 24 crayons boxed in perfect order.

It doesn’t take long the backpack scene to descend into chaos, but on that first day, I am confident that my children have everything they need.

I love this new-pencil feeling because it feels good to have what you need. To have the confidence that no matter what you face, you are prepared.

If only I had this confidence every day. Instead, I look at my to-do list or my calendar, and I wonder, Do I have what it takes? Do I have what I need to get through this?

Maybe you’re wondering, too. What are you facing this week? What do you need? Strength? Hope? Courage? Peace? Wisdom? Someone to help you?

Philippians 4:19 promises we have what we need: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Our Heavenly Father gives us strength. He is the source of our hope. His eternal victory gives us courage. Because we have peace with Him, we can have peace with others and in tough circumstances. He promises wisdom when we ask for it. The Maker of Heaven and Earth is our helper. We can trust Him to give us everything we need.

There is no need you have that God cannot meet. He has all the supplies needed for your salvation and for every day of your life.

Whatever you face this week, you can have confidence that God will supply everything you need.

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Five Years of Desperate Prayers Answered on One Tuesday Morning

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On October 25, 2010, I was about to leave for my oldest child’s 1st grade parent-teacher conference when my phone rang.

It was THE call from the radiologist who had performed the biopsy the week before. I was expecting to hear that it was either breast cancer or not breast cancer, but instead he was talking about a rare cancer that I had never heard of called angiosarcoma. I had to ask him to spell it as I wrote it down and stared at the strange new word.

Stunned, I said to him, “I’m not sure if you’re telling me I have one year or five years or what.” His answer was not reassuring:  “We just don’t know yet.”

What does anyone do when they’ve just been diagnosed with a cancer they’ve never heard of?  I Googled it, of course. And one of the first things I read was that only 30% of those diagnosed with angiosarcoma live five years past the diagnosis. I slammed the laptop shut and burst into tears.

Then my confused brain struggled to do some mental math and fast-forward five years. All I could think was that in five years my 18-month-old daughter would be just 6 years old – first grade. That there was a 70% chance that my baby girl wouldn’t have me with her when she walked into her first day of first grade.

First grade become my earnest plea to the Lord. I spent many weepy nights begging Him for more years with all three of my children. But for my baby, I wanted time for her remember me. In my mind, walking her into 1st grade would mean not only that I survived angiosarcoma for 5 years. It would mean having five years of making memories with my children and being part of their childhood.

As the years passed and it looked more likely that I would survive five years, my prayers became bolder. Now I look past first grade and ask for the privilege of parenting teenagers, seeing them graduate, attending their weddings, holding their babies. I continue to plead for more time and for the faith to trust the Lord with our future. But I don’t want to let this answered prayer pass by unnoticed . . .

On Tuesday, I will hold my daughter’s hand as she walks into her first day of first grade.

Praise the Lord! To Him alone be the glory!

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