Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

The Lord is Your Light and Your Salvation {No Matter What Monday}

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ps27.1

 

If you’ve read the Bible for more than about 10 minutes, you’ve probably come across the idea that those who belong to the Lord have no reason to fear. Do not fear, do not be anxious, do not be afraid . . . these phrases are all over the Scriptures. 

 

If the Lord repeated this idea so often, it must be important. But at the same time, it seems so impractical. The world is a scary place. It’s filled with uncertainty and suffering and trouble, and sometimes it seems to be getting worse every day.

 

How can we possibly live without fear? 

 

Psalm 27:1 offers an answer to that question: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 

The Lord is our light. When all feels dark, the Lord’s light shines even brighter. Micah 7:8 says, “When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.” Isaiah 60:20 refers to the everlasting light of the Lord. Our Heavenly Father promises to always shine His unfailing light into our darkest places. 

 

The Lord is our salvation. Colossians 1:13-14 tells us He’s delivered us from the dominion of darkness, brought us into the kingdom of His Son Jesus Christ, and given us redemption and forgiveness. 

 

I doubt I will completely conquer the temptation to fear this side of heaven. But remembering that the Lord is my light and salvation helps me to face a frightening world with less fear and more confidence in the Lord’s promises. 

 

No matter what you face this week, the Lord is your light and your salvation—you have no reason to fear! 

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Our Help Comes from the Maker of Heaven and Earth {No Matter What Monday}

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ps 121.2

What in God’s creation takes your breath away? Mountains rising high? The vast expanse of the ocean? The intricate knitting together of a newborn baby? The colors of a sunset radiating through the clouds?

 

Everywhere around us, God is giving us a glimpse of His power, goodness and might.

 

What in your life causes you to worry? Your job? Kids? Future? Health? Finances? For me, the list includes all of those and a few more. When the stresses of life start to overwhelm me, I think about these words from Psalm 121:

 

“I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

 

The God who raised those mountains from the ground? He’s planned my future.

 

The Lord who holds the ocean depths in the palm of His hand? He loves my children.

 

My Father who knit me together in my mother’s womb? Every cell in my body answers to Him.

 

When you cry out to the Lord for help, you are depending on the One created the universe and upholds it by His will. Let the wonders of His creation remind you of His power and might at work in your life and in your circumstances.

 

No matter what you face this week, your help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth.

 

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God Will Renew our Strength {No Matter What Monday}

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is 40.31

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.

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Our Hope Enters Behind the Curtain {No Matter What Monday}

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behind the curtain (2)

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. 

Hebrews 6:19-20 (ESV)

 

Last week we talked about the anchor of our hope being in God’s sure and steadfast promises. But what about the rest of the verse?

 

Our hope is described as entering the inner place behind the curtain. Now, I know that can sound like a bunch of theological gobbledygook. The inner place refers to the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelled in the temple. Once a year, the high priest would take a blood sacrifice and enter into the inner place to atone for the sin of the people and remove their guilt.

 

When the author of Hebrews says that Jesus has gone on our behalf into the inner place, he’s saying that Jesus’ sacrifice has taken away the guilt of our sin. Jesus’ blood qualifies him to enter into the place where God dwells. And when it says that Jesus is a forerunner, it means that we will follow him there.

 

When we cast the anchor of our hope, it lands in the place where God dwells. And our hope-anchor is there because Christ died once for all as a sacrifice to remove our guilt, rip the curtain that separated us from God, and secure our access to the inner place with God.

 

This is our sure and steadfast hope. Not hope in our own abilities or good works or trying to do a little better than yesterday. Not hope in promises that may or may not be true when we need them most. Our hope for salvation, for daily life, and for peace in the midst of a storm comes from one sure and steadfast anchor: the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us.

 

So no matter what we face this week, our hope is in Christ, who entered the inner place behind the curtain as a forerunner on our behalf. 

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