Study The Word

Romans 8:35, 37-39 (NIV)
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 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 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.”

Let me gently confront a belief that has quietly wounded so many of God’s children. Somewhere along the way, many of us picked up the idea that the moment you give your life to Christ, it is going to be “let the good times roll” from there on: smooth sailing, blue skies, no storms. And so when the hard season comes, and it does come, we are caught completely off guard. We were never told that salvation is the first step of the journey, not the finish line. We are meant to grow, from glory to glory, into all that Jesus created us to be, and growth happens in real life, with real weather.

Here is where it gets dangerous, and I want you to see it clearly. When tough times come, the enemy moves in and tries to use that very hardship as his exhibit, his “proof” that God does not care about you, that He does not really love you. And listen, some precious believers have actually walked away from their faith over this. They grew bitter toward God, all because they believed a lie. So remember what the Word plainly calls the enemy: the father of lies, and the accuser. Accusation against the goodness of God is his native tongue. Do not let him narrate your hard season.

Can I take you back to the beginning of this, so the lie loses its grip? God is not the author of death. He is not the author of the terrible things that happen in our lives. So we can rest assured that the great majority of the time, the calamity is simply not Him. And there is an important difference we must learn to hold: the difference between God doing something and God allowing something in a fallen world. We so easily rush to blame our heavenly Father for things that grieve His heart as much as they grieve ours.

So who is behind the havoc? When you study your Bible, you understand that there is a real enemy at work in the earth. Scripture even calls him “the prince of this world.” But hear this, because it changes everything: he is a defeated foe. He is running amok in the meantime, yes, but his judgment is already settled and certain. And in the meantime, we are living in the age of grace, the church age, where the Lord Jesus has established His body in the earth and the Kingdom of heaven is operational. Do you understand? That is the very thing we keep praying in the Lord’s Prayer: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth, as it is in heaven.” You and I, the church, are the salt and the light of the earth, shining right in the middle of the darkness.

So the next time you are tempted to jump to blaming God, to conclude that He must not love you because you are facing challenges, stop, and remember who is truly to blame. And then do something about it. You are not helpless. Use the weapons you have been given, and put a stop to the enemy’s work in your life, your family, your city, your nation. You have authority. Use it.

But above all of this, settle one thing in your heart, and never let it move again: the Lord loves you. Look at Paul. This is a man who endured shipwreck and beatings and prison and betrayal and lack. And out of all of that, he stands up and tells us boldly that we are “more than conquerors” through Him who loved us.

ὑπερνικάω hypernikaō more than conquerors – to be a surpassing victor, to overwhelmingly conquer, to win beyond winning.

Can you imagine? Not barely surviving. Not limping out the other side. In the very troubles the enemy uses to “prove” God’s absence, you are an overwhelming victor through the love of Christ. And then Paul lists everything that might ever try to come between you and that love: death, life, angels, demons, the present, the future, any power, any height or depth. He declares that none of it, nothing in all of creation, can ever separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

So let me remind you, and encourage you today: nothing will ever be able to separate you from His love. Not the trouble or the heartbreak you have faced. Not the disappointments. Not the seasons of loss or isolation. None of it. His love is new every single morning, and it is completely, personally, unshakeably for you. Hallelujah! You are loved by the Monarch of the universe, and He is your heavenly Father.

Pray The Word

Heavenly Father, thank You that nothing in all of creation can ever separate me from Your love in Christ Jesus. I refuse the lie that my hard seasons are proof that You do not care, for You are not the author of my calamity; You are the lover of my soul. Thank You that I am more than a conqueror through Him who loved me, and that in You I have authority over the works of the enemy. Settle this truth in my heart forever: I am loved by the Monarch of the universe, who is my Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Speak The Word

Nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Not trouble, not heartbreak, not loss, not one thing in all creation. I am more than a conqueror through Him who loved me. I refuse every lie of the accuser that says God does not care; my God loves me with an unbreakable love. His mercies are new every morning, and His love is completely for me. I am loved by the Monarch of the universe, and He is my Father, in the name of Jesus Christ!