Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

Does God Still Love Me? {Guest post at Women Encouraged}

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I’m honored to be sharing over at Women Encouraged today. If you don’t already follow their blog and listen to their podcast, you are missing out! They serve their readers and listeners with such solid, life-giving content each week, and I definitely recommend that you check them out!

Here’s a preview of today’s post . . .

My daughter’s dark brown eyes stared up at me from her bed, just above the bright floral comforter pulled up to her chin. She tried to sound casual as she asked her pressing bedtime questions: “Mom, which one of us do you love the most? Do you love Will more than me?”

Minutes earlier, as my daughter waited for me to tuck her in, she watched me stop in the hallway and comfort her hurting brother. The questions swirled in her mind: Does Mom still love me? Does she love my brother more?

I tell my daughter I love her and prove it with my actions every day. I meet her basic needs, shower her with hugs and kisses, engage in activities she loves, and frequently put her desires ahead of my own. This little girl knows she is loved.

And yet, when her brother’s needs delayed me for a couple of minutes, my daughter began to doubt my love for her. She questioned a basic truth that had been proven to her every day for seven years.

Her doubts sound a little too familiar.

What truth can we cling to when we begin to doubt God’s love? Read more here!

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Loving Your Friend Through Cancer ~ A live interview with Marketers on a Mission

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Last week I had the privilege of doing a Facebook live interview with Patricia Durgin from Marketers on a Mission. Patricia helps Christian writers and speakers succeed online with a daily Facebook live show, and last week she hosted a special breast cancer awareness week. I was thrilled to be able to share God’s story of faithfulness to me during my battle with angiosarcoma and discuss how we can support our friends with cancer. You can check out the replay from YouTube here!

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God’s Provision Overflows {No Matter What Monday}

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When I was a teenager, an exciting new restaurant opened in my small hometown: we finally had a Chili’s! The best part about Chili’s wasn’t the thin, crunchy tortilla chips or the indulgently breaded chicken strips with salty fries. Chili’s most amazing feature was something I’d never seen before—unlimited soft drinks.

Before my Dr. Pepper could empty all the way, the server would swap it for a full glass. And this endless supply of Dr. Pepper would continue throughout the meal. I wondered how they could stay in business, handing out glass after glass of Dr. Pepper like that!

David lived a few thousand years before Chili’s and their unlimited Dr. Pepper, but he had a Shepherd who led him in green pastures, through the valley of the shadow of death, to an even better table overflowing with good gifts.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Psalm 23:5)

Even though David is still in the presence of his enemies, God provides a refuge filled with refreshment. With the Shepherd’s protection and provision, David sits to eat in a lavish setting. Expensive oil anoints his head; his cup is filled to overflowing. God’s precious sheep lacks nothing.

Maybe your cup doesn’t feel overflowing today. Maybe you feel worn out from suffering, tired of waiting for relief, desperate for God to restore and refresh you. God hasn’t wiped out your enemies, and it feels like they’re closing in on you.

Can you see the table spread before you? His good gifts may not be exactly what you want, but He will always provide what you need: His grace, mercy, forgiveness, presence with you, care for you, unparalleled comfort, unexplainable peace, unending faithfulness.

Friend, I know it’s hard when it feels like you can’t escape your enemies. But your Shepherd invites you to take a seat and feast on His lavish goodness to you. Feel the oil on your head that reminds you that you are precious to Him. See your cup overflow with good, spilling over onto the table as you reach for it, reminding you that God’s provision is more than you need.

No matter what you face this week, God’s provision of good gifts overflows.

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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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