Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

God Knows All Things {No Matter What Monday}

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When my dad was five years old, he told his mom: “I can write my name and tie my shoes and count to ten. I won’t have to go to school, will I?” When he got to kindergarten, he found he had more to learn. He spent the next 21 years going to school!

 

No matter how many decades we spend in school, our knowledge remains incomplete. My dad is really smart, but there are certain tasks I wouldn’t trust him to do. If you need someone to solve a differential equation, sing bass in your choir, or whip up a fantastic pot of baked beans, he’s your guy. But if you ask him to frame your new house or cut your child’s hair or perform your hip replacement surgery, you will regret it. Some jobs are beyond the scope of my dad’s understanding.

 

But my heavenly Father knows it all. He knows every person, animal, plant, pebble, galaxy and atom in this universe. He knows every detail about every subject from astronomy to zoology. He knows every event from eternity past to eternity future. Nothing is beyond the scope of His infinite knowledge.

 

Psalm 147:5: Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

 

He’s not just all-knowing; He is good. He uses His immeasurable knowledge for the good of those He loves. We can trust our unknown future to the One who knows all things. He’s not going to get it wrong, because all His decisions are informed by His complete knowledge.

 

No matter what we face this week, we can trust the One who knows all things.

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The Lord Knows Those Who Take Refuge in Him {No Matter What Monday}

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It was the moment every performer dreads. My daughter sat at the grand piano in front of a hushed crowd, staring at her hands on the keys. There was no music in front of her, and her brain refused to bail out her stymied fingers. She was stuck, halfway through her piece. After a long pause and a couple of false starts, she finished the piece and took her bow. But in her mind, it was a disaster. A catastrophe. The Most Embarrassing Moment Ever in her short 7 years of life.

Can you guess what she did next? She ran to me. She climbed into my lap, buried her face in my chest, and cried. She didn’t run to her brothers, who were seated in the front row with the other performers. She didn’t run to the strangers in the audience seated right behind them. She didn’t even run to her piano teacher, whom she adores.

She ran to the one who knows her best.

Where do you run for comfort or refuge when life hurts? If I’m honest, I often run to a friend, to Facebook, or to a bag of popcorn. I forget the One who knows me in a way no one else does. My Heavenly Father knows my troubles and invites me to find refuge in Him.

Nahum 1:7: The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

This verse gives us three reasons to run to the Lord with our troubles. 1) The Lord is good. It’s simple, but profound. He is unfailingly good. He will not disappoint us. 2) The Lord is a stronghold. He is a sure and steadfast anchor we can cling to in our struggles. 3) The Lord knows us. He knows our struggles. He knows our needs. He knows our past, present, and future. He knows.

No matter what we face this week, the Lord knows those who take refuge in Him.

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It is Well With My Soul {No Matter What Monday}

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it-is-wellI belted out the words to my favorite hymn, tears flowing freely, as my church family harmonized effortlessly around me. Singing that hymn on that Sunday is one of my most poignant memories of corporate worship.

 

Days earlier, on January 12, 2010, an enormous earthquake rocked the small, impoverished nation of Haiti: a land precious to two families in our church who run schools there, and therefore precious to our entire church family. It was more than an earthquake in a foreign land – it was another symptom of a fallen world, another crack in our broken hearts. And yet, we sang:

“And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.”

 

How can your soul be well when nothing else is well?

 

Another verse in the same hymn says:

“My sin—oh the bliss of this glorious thought!—

My sin, not in part, but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!”

 

The Lord redeemed us by nailing our sin to the cross of Christ. Through the Son, the Father met our greatest need—our need to be reconciled to Him. As this world falls apart and our hearts break, we can have peace knowing that the Lord who loves us so deeply will never stop caring for our needs. Because we have peace with God through Christ, it is well with our souls.

 

No matter what we face this week, it is well with our souls . . . even when nothing else is well.

 

P.S. The people of Haiti need our help again in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. To learn more about the work my friends are doing in Haiti, please visit the Hope for LaGonave website. I’d love for you to consider donating to their work—I can vouch for the fact that your funds will be used to thoughtfully care for children in Haiti.

 

(Quotations from the hymn “It is Well With My Soul” by Horatio G. Stafford)

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Keep Clinging to the Lord {No Matter What Monday}

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It’s a familiar routine. We both climb out of the white minivan, and I lock the doors. As we step out into the parking lot, she slips her soft hand into mine. She knows that at barely 4 feet tall, she’s safest if she’s holding my hand as we walk through the big, bad parking lot.

Who’s holding whom as my daughter and I walk hand-in-hand? She’s the one who reached out and grabbed my hand, but I’m the one who won’t let go. I’m the one who would scoop her up and rush her to safety if danger threatened. If she forgot to reach out and grab my hand one day, I’d reach for hers and grasp it tight.

Psalm 63:8: My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

In this psalm, David remembers the Lord’s help during dark times. He finds joy in being near to the Lord. And he knows that as his soul clings to the Lord, the Lord’s right hand will hold him tight.

Are you struggling to cling to the Lord? Maybe it feels like you’re trying to grab on, but your fingers keep slipping in the midst of fear and doubt. Or you’re trying to hold on, but your muscles are straining and threatening to quit.

Keep clinging, friend. And when your hands grow weary or start to slip, remember that the Lord’s steady hand upholds you. He’s got a strong grip on you, and He won’t ever let go.

No matter what you face this week, keep clinging to the Lord and trust Him to hold you.

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