Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

Your Shepherd is With You

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Every October, the memories from 2010 come flooding back. As the leaves get more colorful, the nights get longer, and the mornings get chillier, it reminds me of the year I found a lump, had a biopsy, waited for results, and then heard the doctor say a word I’d never heard of before: angiosarcoma. When I googled this rare cancer, I was struck with the reality that I might not live to see my kids grow up. I spent the next several months battling through the valley of the shadow of death. 

Your experience with that valley may be different. Whether it’s a life-threatening illness, heartbreaking loss, or the grief that comes from the horrific current events in this world, we all encounter the reality of suffering in some way. So when we read Psalm 23:4, it’s not hypothetical. 

Even if this verse is familiar, take a minute to read it slowly and absorb this promise from God’s Word: 

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

The psalmist drew comfort from these four words: “You are with me.” We have peace in the midst of suffering because God is always with us and will never abandon us. 

This verse also tells us that as we endure the pain of suffering, we have nothing to fear. Through our tears and our heartbreak, we can have confidence that Christ conquered cancer, sickness, death, and loss when He rose from the grave. We can say with the apostle Paul, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Because our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, experienced death for us, we will never walk through death’s shadow alone. Because our Shepherd suffered for us, we can face suffering without fear. Because our Shepherd demonstrated His love for us on the cross, we have confidence that He will always be there to comfort us and will one day wipe away all our tears. 

No matter what you face this week, your Shepherd is with you in your suffering. 

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The Shepherd Cares and Provides

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Can you think of a time when you felt well cared for? When I lived in Houston for months receiving cancer treatment, some friends of a friend took me in and let me stay with them. Their home was beautiful and cozy, and they were so generous. They, along with their grown children, treated me like family. I hated being away from home, but when I was there, I could see God’s provision in their sacrificial care for me. 

 Last week we started our three-week study of God as our Shepherd in Ezekiel 34. As we look at the next verses, we see God’s loving care and provision for His sheep. 

“I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.” (Ezekiel 34:14–16)

Imagine how wonderful these promises must have sounded to the Israelites in exile in Babylon. They were away from home, and times were tough. But their God promised to not just to feed them, but also to provide rich pasture. He promised not just to be with them but also to cause them to lie down—implying perfect peace, contentment, and safety. God’s words assured His people that He would heal, strengthen, and restore them. 

We find similar promises in Psalm 23: 

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1–3)

The Lord is our only good Shepherd. We may chase after counterfeit shepherds, looking for satisfaction, security, or peace. But those needs can only be met by our Savior, Jesus Christ. When He is our Shepherd, we shall not want. 

No matter what you face this week, your good Shepherd cares and provides for His sheep. 

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Trust the Expert of Everything

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Have you ever needed an expert? In 2010, I was diagnosed with angiosarcoma, a rare cancer that doctors in my area only see about once a decade. I went to the largest medical facility in my state, where they see it once or twice a year. Then I went to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. There we found an oncologist who treats it once or twice a week, with great success. My husband and I looked at each other with the same thought in our heads: “We choose this guy.” 

We trusted this doctor because he knows more about angiosarcoma than most people on the planet. We knew that no matter how much searching and reading we did, our understanding of this complicated disease could never match his. Because of his expertise, we decided to do whatever he told us to do—even when we didn’t like his plans, and even when his recommendations were difficult and life-altering. His expertise led us to put my life in his hands, medically speaking. 

The same is true of the Lord. There is no limit to the extent of His knowledge and wisdom, not just about cancer, but about foreign policy, immunology, and everything else in all creation. He is the ultimate Expert of everything. 

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’” (Romans 11:33-34)

We can confidently choose to trust the Lord because of His riches of wisdom. He knows the past, present, and future. He knows all the possibilities and which ones will become realities. He knows how He will provide for His children and every situation they will face. He knows what is best for us, even when it doesn’t make sense from our perspective. 

Not only does He know all things, but He uses His knowledge to always do what is right. Even when His commands are challenging and His plans are perplexing, we are secure in His loving and faithful hands.

No matter what you face this week, you can trust the One who is the ultimate Expert of everything. 

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Your Portion Forever

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When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, I experienced loss. I was only 34, but I lost my identity as a healthy person. I lost my plans for the next several months as my calendar was wiped clean and replaced with chemo treatments in another state. I lost my confidence in my future expectations about seeing my kids grow up and growing old with my husband. 

I know you’ve dealt with loss, too. Loss brings grief because good things have been taken away. 

The author of Lamentations also experienced loss. He lost his home—the Promised Land that God gave to His people to be their inheritance (Joshua 14:1). The people of Judah were taken away from the land God had given them, and the city of Jerusalem fell to Babylon and was destroyed. 

Over the past week weeks, we’ve seen how the author of Lamentations responded to this suffering by remembering God’s never-ending mercies and great faithfulness. In the next verse, he declared another reason for his hope: 

“‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’”(Lamentations 3:24) 

When he said the Lord is his portion, he was referring to a share of an inheritance, like the land that was portioned between the tribes of Israel in the Promised Land. Worldly gifts like land, relationships, health, and money can be taken away, but our inheritance in the Lord is eternal (Ephesians 1:11-14, 1 Peter 1:4). Even when we suffer loss, the Lord is our portion. 

We find this idea echoed in two of my favorite verses from the Psalms: 

“The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” (Psalm 16:5-6) 

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)

This Valentine’s Day, you may be celebrating with loved ones, or you may be grieving unrealized dreams or heart-breaking loss. Either way, you can find your hope in this: those who believe in Christ have the most spectacular inheritance in the Lord. He has promised to be your portion forever. 

No matter what you face this week, place your hope in the Lord and your inheritance in Him. 

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