For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
October 25th this year I will celebrate my 39th birthday marking my being born again and finding new life in Christ. Thirty-nine years of knowing and walking with Jesus is a long time. It has its perks. One of them is that I can now say with the psalmist David “I have been young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25)
Thirty-nine years of seeing the faithfulness of God through every conceivable circumstance should be proof positive that the words of Paul out of Romans 8:38-39 are unquestionably true. So why is it after all these years I still find myself at times doubting God’s love and care for me? It seems to be a common human malady doesn’t it?
All too often, when we come upon trying circumstances in our spiritual journey, they have a way of numbing our sensitivity to God’s love. And trials, like storm clouds blow in and block our view of His presence with us in the midst of those circumstances. It is then, if we are not vigilant, that we can find ourselves doubting His love for us.
Since our senses can fail us and even mislead us in times of difficulty, we must learn to navigate by faith if we are to move ahead. That is exactly what the Bible tells us repeatedly when it says that we must “live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4 & Galatians 3:11)
Faith is based on eternal facts, not (fickle) feelings engendered from shifting circumstances.
The one eternal fact, which is the most important one of all, is God’s unwavering love for us in Christ Jesus! Take it from me and thirty-nine years of experience, that is one fact we must never allow to come into question! Nothing can separate us from the love of God – not ups or downs, demonic attacks, cancer or even death. Paul, the writer of this powerful verse was convinced of it because he, like very few men, experienced the full gamut of trials and difficulties in his life. And I am convinced of it as well!
When Jesus began explaining to His disciples about the necessity of His suffering and death Peter took sharp issue with the Lord about it. Jesus’ surprising response was to rebuke the Devil who was working through Peter’s protest. And then Jesus said a very revealing thing. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from Gods.” (Matthew 16:23) NLT
Our human point of view is what trips us up in not believing and trusting in God’s love. It is so limited, like viewing the world with tunnel vision from deep inside a cave. Faith is trusting God’s description of what is taking place outside of the cave beyond our view. Because His eternal plans and purposes reside in that enlightened realm outside of our cave existence we cannot see them or only get fleeting glimpses at best.
And so we must simply trust Him when He speaks from that reality and says that nothing can separate us from His love. Therefore I have learned the necessity of taking the faith approach when I am tempted to doubt His love for me. If He said it, I believe it and that settles it!
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When I was 19, I wrote this little poem and it still holds through 41 yrs later.
My life has been like a daisy, with Time pulling off one petal after another-God loves me, God loves me not-until there is nothing left but the center-Gods Word.
Amen! I like that! Thanks for sharing.
correction-I did the math and it should read 38 yrs later-I don’t want to make myself any older than what I am!