Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?— Romans 8:35

God doesn’t promise to make us immune to trouble; God promises to be with us in trouble. It doesn’t matter what kind of trouble; even the most extreme hardship can never separate us from God.

“In all these things we are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37). The “things” Paul is talking about in this verse aren’t imaginary; they are desperately real. And yet, Paul says, in the middle of all our hardships, we are super-victors—not because of our intelligence or our courage, but because nothing can affect our relationship to God in Jesus Christ. Whether we like it or not, we are where we are, exactly in the condition we’re in. I am sorry for Christians who have nothing difficult in their circumstances.

“Shall trouble . . . ?” Trouble is never a noble thing, but neither is it all-powerful. No trouble, says Paul, “will be able to separate us from the love of God” (v. 39). Let trouble be what it is. Let it be exhausting and irritating. But never let it separate you from the reality that God loves you.

“Shall . . . hardship . . . ?” Can God’s love hold when everything around us seems to be saying that his love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?

“Shall . . . famine . . . ?” Can we not only believe in God’s love but be more than conquerors even when we are being starved? Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver and Paul is deluded, or something extraordinary happens to the soul who holds on to God’s love when the facts are against God’s character.

“More than conquerors . . .” Logic is silenced in the face of Paul’s claim. Only one thing can account for what he says: the love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise,” every time.

1 Chronicles 7-9; John 6:22-44

Wisdom from Oswald

Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.The Place of Help, 1005 R

 

 

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