Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

God is With You {No Matter What Monday}

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Last Tuesday morning I opened my Facebook app and saw a post that stopped my casual stroll. It’s not the first time the cancer battle of a Facebook friend has ended in death. And sadly, it’s not even the first time I’ve learned the news by seeing a teenage daughter’s loving tribute to a mom she won’t see again this side of heaven.

I sat in stunned silence, praying for the grieving family as I absorbed the reality of their loss. Several minutes later, I saw another tribute for a young father who just passed away after a five-year cancer battle. On a morning when I planned to write a devotional on Psalm 23:4, I couldn’t avoid the reality that death is a pervasive part of life.

“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)

This verse 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 Cor. 15:55).

The psalmist draws 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. There is nowhere we can flee from His presence (Ps. 139:9-10). We belong to Him, and He promises to always be with us (Isaiah 43:1-2). Just as the fourth man appeared with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace, we never suffer alone (see Dan. 3).

Because our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, walked through 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, God is with you in your suffering.

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Equipping You In Grace {Podcast interview}

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I’m grateful to be this week’s guest on the Equipping You In Grace podcast with Dave Jenkins. I hope you’ll check out our conversation about Loving Your Friend through Cancer! And if you enjoy listening to thoughtful people discuss important topics, listen to some of his other episodes, too. I especially enjoyed this conversation with Jen Wilkin!

Note: There were audio issues with this podcast recording. If you’d rather read the interview, I answered many of the same questions in written form on their website – click here to read the interview!

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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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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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