As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor
principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8-:35-39).
The daily
struggles of life are enough to make a person depressed and want to give up. From
finances, to sickness, to loss of a loved one, the trials we face can cause us
to question God’s love and sovereignty. Many times in my own life I’ve asked
God, “Where are you? Do You not see me? What are You doing?” Some of the
battles we face and trials we endure can cause us to become bitter with God or even
lead us astray from the will of God. As I prayed today, I became discouraged
because sometimes it seems as if I pray often but get no answer. Though I felt
this way, I know that the true reason that I keep seeking God is because I know
He exists and He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Another reason
that I continue to seek God even though I may not get answers to my prayers
right away, is because I’m determined to know and love God. The Lord has put a determination
in my heart to love Him, to seek Him, and to serve Him with my whole heart. I believe
that this determination has come because of the different tests that I’ve endured,
like unanswered prayer.
As I read the
scripture it reminded me that no matter what I’m going through God still loves
me. And so it is with you. No matter what you are facing, don’t let the enemy
tell you that God doesn’t love you, or that He has forgotten about you. That’s a
lie. The Apostle Paul asks, “Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword?” Will you let these things separate you from the love of God? Be
determined to know Him, to love Him, and to commune with Him even in your
distress. These things that are happening to you are working out for you a greater
glory. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians
4:17).
I want to encourage
you today as you read Romans 8:35-39. Nothing that we have done or anything that
we face in life is able to separate us from the love of God. He loves us with
an everlasting love. Just because you are going through or you don’t get
answers to your prayers doesn’t mean that God has stopped loving you. Furthermore,
it doesn’t mean that you should stop loving God. So
even when your prayers
remain unanswered. Even when you become weary in well doing. Even when you are
facing every trial known to man. Ask yourself, “What or who shall separate me
from the love of Christ?” The Bible says that even in these various trials, you
are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you.
But
we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may
be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on
every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted,
but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body
(2 Corin. 4:7-10).