eternal Archives - Marissa Henley

God is Always On Time {No Matter What Monday}

March 5, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Do you ever have one of those days when you run behind schedule ALL. DAY. LONG? You have a to-do list that’s growing, not shrinking. You hit snooze one time too many and got a late start. The dog pees the carpet right as you’re leaving the house. Your toddler goes on strike and refuses to put on his shoes. And of course, it’s pouring rain and traffic is terrible.

I don’t have the toddler excuse anymore. But I still have a snooze button, a dog, and a to-do list, so I have a lot of these can’t-catch-up days. I don’t seem to have enough time to do all that I need to do, yet I still try to squeeze it all in. I end up being late every step of the way.

God never has one of those days. Psalm 90 tells us that God has all the time in the world. Literally.

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:1-2)

From everlasting to everlasting—can you imagine? The eternal existence of God is more than my finite brain can grasp.

But I know this: from everlasting to everlasting is a really, really long time. God never has to worry about accomplishing all He plans to do. He is never rushed, never running behind schedule, never cutting corners to catch up.

God is always right on time.

From our perspective, we sometimes feel that God could hustle a bit more. We’d like Him to heal our friend, provide a new job, or answer our questions—and if it would have been done yesterday, it wouldn’t have been too soon.

The reality is, God’s timing is always perfect. He isn’t bound by time, but rather He rules over it. He uses time to bring about His purposes in our lives, and it’s always just right.

No matter what you face this week, you can trust God’s perfect timing.

Our Suffering has a Glorious End {No Matter What Monday}

February 27, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Why do days filled with mundane tasks tick by so slowly, and vacation days fly by so fast? January and February feel like they will never end, and June just goes zipping by. Happy times seem like minutes compared to seasons of suffering that seem endless.

And yet, today’s verse takes a different view of time. In God’s timeline, our time of suffering slips by quickly, and our time of glory stretches without end.

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (I Peter 5:10)

Peter says, “After you have suffered a little while . . .” Does this make you want to roll your eyes?! Or maybe scream at Peter that he has no idea what he’s talking about? Our suffering doesn’t feel temporary!

Peter understood that suffering sometimes seems endless, but he also understood the truth about the “God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ.” Here, Peter highlights the contrast between our temporary suffering and our eternal glory in Christ. Our present trials are like a gnat on the Mt. Everest of eternity with Christ.

As the verse promises, “God will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” The Lord will bring this to an end—the outcome doesn’t depend on us. It’s a gift of His grace in Christ. He will restore us. He will confirm our position as His children. He will strengthen us by His mercy. He will establish us as heirs of His promises.

One of God’s purposes in our suffering is to point us to its glorious end. One day, He will turn evil on its head and our joy will be sweeter because of our pain. As Tim Keller says, “The evil that hurts us now will be the eventual servant of our joy and glory eternally.”

No matter what we face this week, there will be a glorious end to our suffering.

Perfect Peace is Found in the Rock Eternal {No Matter What Monday}

September 5, 2016 by Marissa Leave a Comment

We were two college freshman, thrown together into a tiny dorm room by the luck of the draw. After a rocky semester of figuring each other out, we were forced to inhabit each other’s space for hours on end with no escape. No classes, no meetings, no parties to separate us. Just one common goal: to pass our first set of semester final exams. Tension ran high in our hearts and in our third-floor dorm room.

One night, my roommate wrote out a verse and taped it to our wall:

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

This verse got us through those sleepless nights of studying, and it has comforted me during many anxious nights since. When the cares of my heart are more burdensome than college exams, my comfort has grown because of the verse that follows:

“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord is an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:4).

What struggles, relationships or challenges are threatening your peace right now? Do you find it difficult to keep your focus on the Lord? I do.

When my peace is washed away by the waves of life, I can cling to the everlasting rock. My mind is not steadfast, and I struggle to trust Him. But the Lord is steadfast. He strengthens my faith and pours out His perfect peace into my troubled soul.

He is faithful, even when we are not. And as He pours out His peace over and over again, our trust will grow and our minds will be more steadily focused on the source of our hope and peace: the Lord, the Rock eternal.

No matter what you face this week, perfect peace is found in the Lord, the Rock eternal.