August 3, 2022 -- Romans 8:31-39 -- Teary-eyed conquerors through Him Who loves us

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31-39 ESV

Living for Jesus in real life is hard. One man I’ve worked closely with in my prison ministry time has disappeared. His family is afraid for his life. Another has turned his back on the treatment program and which had been a life-line for him. I remember standing at the graveside, more times than I care to count, tears in my eyes, nose running from wracking-grief-shared. Sometimes and in some circumstances death is a relief, but so many times, death is a brutal, bewildering intrusion. A nine day old infant, much anticipated and loved, being lowered into the ground as his towering father bends over in collapsing anguish. A young mom. A groom, just six weeks married, dead. His distraught wife, at the emergency room hearing news of his death in confusing and disbelieving repeatedly wails out, “but the wedding pictures arrived today. He hasn’t even seen them yet.”

What situation can wrest us from God’s protection. None! What situation is beyond the special pleading and intercessory work of Jesus—there is not one! Is there is special place of pain where the love of Christ stops short? Job loss? Mocking angel of death? Martyrdom? Fear? Grief? Financial ruin? War? This passage answers with a resounding NO! 

Our lives are not our own. Our lives are lived under the watchful eye of our Sovereign King, the Good Shepherd. However long, or short, our lives this passage speaks directly to the weary soul. Be reminded, you are His people. Even your DNA has His language of love stamped into every one of your cells. He makes His claim over you. You mind might protest: How can this be true when the tears never seem to stop and the questions fill the soul with the relentlessness of tides? The Word of God answers: Nothing separates you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. The Spirit guards you in this love while you live. At the moment of death, the Son of God, Jesus the King, ushers you into glory, the great confirmation of His majestic work and brilliance of HIs saving grace as He presents you without spot or blemish in the presence of the Father.

King of kings and LORD of lords truly our lives and all the circumstances we face—all of these things are in Your hands. We do not see the grandeur of Your mighty plans nor can we fully understand the deep valleys of death and pain we must pass through. When the tears overwhelm us, thank You for the promise we are made for Your holy purposes. When the questions rush in, one after another, thank You Father, that Your Spirit still speaks to our crushed heart, tenderly saying, “Abba, Father”. The psalmist even says You gather up all our tears and keep them in a bottle (Psalm 56:8). You do not miss a thing, all sighs and groans and their accompanying tears, all these You have seen and in all of this You are tender until the rawness begins to heal. Faithful God, reminded this day of such deep things, by Your precious Word—the Living Word Jesus and written Word--we wait in hope for what we do not see now, we wait for it in patience. Quiet us with Your love until the sobbing stops and the peace beyond all understanding takes hold. Amen.

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