A Word from Romans 8

What’s the hardest thing that you’re going to face today? Could it be an assignment at work that’s giving you fits, or a breach in a relationship that’s causing you pain? Could it be an illness, or an injury, or the anxiety you feel about somebody else who’s sick or injured? Or could it be that you’re doing well today, but you’re living in a world in which so many other things seem to be going wrong; and that in itself is hard?

Well, listen. Today’s word from Romans Chapter 8 is very familiar to most of us. And yet, it offers a promise, which sometimes—when things are difficult—it becomes way too easy to overlook. And so, especially when things are hard, it helps to hear these words again…

     “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?” Paul asks, “If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

     “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

     “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love…indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:31-39, NLT; selected verses)

And so today, let’s be honest about the hard things in our lives. But let’s also be confident that no matter what we face, we’re held by a Love that will not let us go. Amen.