Truth for the Soul
Tonight I was thinking about how I often let my circumstances separate me from God. When I'm upset or frustrated, I don't necessarily turn to God. Sometimes I turn away, especially with regards to infertility. But as I was praying about it tonight, I remembered this verse:
Romans 8:35-39 *[my added insights]
God's love isn't measured in blessings. It's measured in the gospel, in the hope of reconciliation.
Everyone experiences pain and suffering. It's rampant in our world. The list in the beginning pretty much covers everyone: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness (poverty), danger, sword. Yep, we all fall into at least one of those categories. It's easy to believe that God doesn't exist or love us because of these bad things.
I can't understand suffering. I wish I had some wise explanation for it, but I don't. I hate death, miscarriage, loss of jobs, broken relationships. It tears me up inside to hear about these things.
But the truth that God's love cannot be severed by circumstance (bad or good) is seriously reassuring.
I try to throw it back and say, "If you really loved me, then..." but it's just not true. His love isn't measured that way. It's steady and unchanging. I believe that He desires a deep relationship with me. My ultimate happiness is found there, not in tangible blessings.
Just preaching to myself. Thought I'd share it.
Romans 8:35-39 *[my added insights]
| Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword [or infertility]? | ||
| As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." [bad stuff happens] | ||
| No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. | ||
| For I am convinced that neither death nor life, [neither infertility nor fertility,] neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, | ||
| neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation [including my bad attitude], will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
Everyone experiences pain and suffering. It's rampant in our world. The list in the beginning pretty much covers everyone: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness (poverty), danger, sword. Yep, we all fall into at least one of those categories. It's easy to believe that God doesn't exist or love us because of these bad things.
I can't understand suffering. I wish I had some wise explanation for it, but I don't. I hate death, miscarriage, loss of jobs, broken relationships. It tears me up inside to hear about these things.
But the truth that God's love cannot be severed by circumstance (bad or good) is seriously reassuring.
I try to throw it back and say, "If you really loved me, then..." but it's just not true. His love isn't measured that way. It's steady and unchanging. I believe that He desires a deep relationship with me. My ultimate happiness is found there, not in tangible blessings.
Just preaching to myself. Thought I'd share it.
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