comfort Archives - Page 4 of 14

The One Who Called You By Name {No Matter What Monday}

May 7, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

*** My new book, Loving Your Friend through Cancer, releases at the end of this month! To celebrate, each Monday devotional in May will feature one of my favorite verses from my cancer battle several years ago. I hope you will be encouraged by these scriptures and add them to your list to share with a friend who is suffering. ***

The text came from a friend as I recovered from chemo in Houston in 2011. She wanted to know my favorite verse. I had a hard time choosing from my long list of favorites, but there was one that had become so precious in my suffering.

When I battled angiosarcoma, there was no guarantee of a happy ending from my worldly perspective. No one could promise me I’d get my old life back. I definitely wasn’t getting my old body back. And I wondered if life after cancer would ever come close to normal for my family and me.

One thing I knew for sure: God’s presence with me was absolutely guaranteed. The fire was hot. The waves were high. But I was not alone.

“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.’” (Isaiah 43:1–2)

The Lord gives us a reason not to fear: our redemption, His calling us by name. We belong to Him. He knows us. He cares for us. We are His, so we have nothing to fear.

Our suffering may feel like giant ocean waves tossing us into the air and then plunging us into the depths. But the Lord will hold us fast. Even when our future here is uncertain, our future with Him is secure, because He said, “You are Mine.”

No matter what you face this week, the One who called you by name will never leave you.

The Lord Will Renew Your Strength {No Matter What Monday Repost}

April 16, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Did you know that I often write what I need to hear? I found this No Matter What Monday devotional from April 2016–I’d written what I needed to hear then, and I need to hear it again now. Maybe you do, too? So this week, here’s a flashback post to encourage us to rely on the Lord’s strength again.

It’s one of those times of the year. The end of the school year ranks high on my list of busy times of year, right up there with Christmas and back-to-school. I feel like there’s a runaway train barreling down the tracks toward the last day of school, and I’m hanging onto the back for dear life. I’ve got two hands gripping the back of the train and both feet flying up in the air behind me, just hoping we can make it to the end of the track without some unknown danger around the corner knocking me loose from this roaring engine.

In other words, I’m overwhelmed and exhausted. Anyone else?

Maybe you’ve got little ones who wear you out each day by 8:30 a.m. and you wonder how soon is too soon to start texting your husband to ask when he’ll be home.

Maybe you’re caring for an aging parent or pouring yourself out all day into a demanding job, and then heading home to face another long list of responsibilities.

Maybe your exhaustion stems from an ongoing struggle to parent a challenging child, cope with illness, or grieve a loss.

On weary days, I love this promise from Isaiah 40:30-31:

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Isaiah gets me. He knows we all have those tired days – even the young ones get worn out, he says.

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. The Lord’s strength is a sufficient, sustaining, satisfying strength. Rather than holding on for dear life, I can fly through these challenges like as soaring eagle because I’m sustained by the Lord.

No matter what we face this week, the Lord can be trusted to renew our strength as we rest in Him.

Our Ever-Present Help {No Matter What Monday}

April 9, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

A few years ago, I was talking with a friend about one of the many ways I think the internet is disconnecting us from each other, not just connecting us. Before Google, if I needed to know how to poach an egg or house-train a puppy or get olive oil out of my favorite sweater, I would call my mom or a friend. Now those phone calls don’t happen because we have all the answers at our fingertips.

So the next week, when my son threw up on the loveseat in our living room, I decided to call my mom to ask how to clean it rather than typing the question into an impersonal search engine. I explained my predicament and asked her what I should do. The first words out of her mouth were, “Have you Googled it?”

I’m thankful for my helpful mom, knowledgeable friends, and of course, Google. But I’m even more thankful for the One we can turn to for help in any and every problem we face.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1-2)

God is our refuge. He provides safety because He loves us and reigns over any circumstance, any power, or any person that would threaten us. As Paul says in Romans 8, nothing in this world can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ.

God is our strength. The One who created the heavens and the earth is your helper (Ps. 121:1-2). He placed in stars in the sky and the fish in the ocean depths, and He promises to give you His strength when you’re weak.

God is always present in our suffering. This is why the psalmist can say: “Therefore we will not fear . . .” We can face our troubles with confidence that the Lord is with us. He’s not just a passive, uninterested bystander. He is our heavenly Father, our refuge, and our strength.

No matter what you face this week, God is an ever-present help in trouble.

The Risen Christ Conquered Death {No Matter What Monday}

April 2, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

I’ll never forget the look of joy on his little 3-year-old face when he heard the news. My first-born, Christopher, was eating breakfast at the kitchen table when he started asking questions about Jesus. He had heard repeatedly that Jesus had died on the cross for his sins. But apparently we had failed to mention one crucial piece of information – Jesus didn’t stay dead. When I mentioned that Jesus rose from the dead, his eyes grew wide and he exclaimed, “Jesus is ALIVE?!?” He clapped his hands exuberantly and shouted, “Yaaaaaay!”

It was such a joy to witness the moment my son first learned the good news of the resurrection. He realized for the first time that death didn’t win. Jesus isn’t still in the grave. He is risen!

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep . . . “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (I Cor. 15:20 and 55, NIV)

Friend, this is good news: Jesus is alive! He isn’t just a suffering Savior who died in your place but a reigning King who conquered the power of death. Yes, He took the punishment for your sin and freed you from its guilt. But He also rose victorious over the ultimate enemy. We read in Revelation 1:18 that Jesus holds the keys to death and hades. Death has no power over Him.

Our risen Savior is the firstfruits of the resurrection. “Firstfruits” implies that there are more resurrection fruits to come! When He stepped out of the grave, He made a way for us to have new life in Him now and eternal life with Him forever. Death has no power over Him, and it also has no power over those of us who are in Christ.

And so even though we feel the pain and sting of death here temporarily, we can look at the empty grave and say with Paul, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Jesus Christ took the sting of death for us, so we wait eagerly for the day when we feel it no more.

No matter what you face this week, the risen Christ conquered death for us.

« Previous Page