Romans 8:35-37
There is such an important key in these few verses. Paul is reaffirming God’s incredible love for us and then addresses a common mindset that can trip us up, discourage us, and even send us into a place of despair.
How many of us have questioned God’s love when the world around us seems to be falling apart?
“Is God mad at me?”
“Why would God allow this to happen in my life?”
“Has God forgotten about me?”
It is easy to lose sight of Him when the clouds of trouble roll in. Yet our circumstances are not necessarily a reflection of God's feelings toward us. Just because life is difficult doesn't mean God has withdrawn His love or His presence.
Two Scriptural examples come to mind: John the Baptist and Elijah.
If you remember, John was in prison when he sent word to Jesus, asking if He really was the One they had been expecting. Jesus' response was telling:
“Then he told John’s disciples, ‘Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.’ And he added, ‘God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.’”
Luke 7:22–23 NLT
Think about that! John was the one who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River and declared Him to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Yet here he was, sitting in prison, apparently wrestling with some doubts.
Perhaps John had expected things to unfold differently. After all, if Jesus was the Messiah, why was John still sitting in prison?
Jesus didn't promise John that He would deliver him from prison. Instead, He reminded him of the evidence of who He was and encouraged him not to stumble because things weren't happening the way he had expected.
Sometimes our greatest test of faith comes when God doesn't do what we thought He would do.
Then there was Elijah.
Elijah had just experienced an incredible victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, where God demonstrated His power in spectacular fashion. Yet one threat from Jezebel sent Elijah running into the wilderness, overwhelmed with fear and despair.
In 1 Kings 19:4, we read:
“Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, LORD,’ he said. ‘Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.’”
Talk about going from the mountaintop to the valley!
Elijah had just witnessed God answer by fire, yet now he was so discouraged that he wanted to die. Isn't it interesting how quickly we can lose sight of what God has already done when we become overwhelmed by what is happening around us?
Yet notice God's response. He didn't abandon Elijah in his discouragement. Instead, He sent an angel to feed him, not once, but twice, providing the strength Elijah needed for the journey ahead.
Elijah then traveled forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, where he had a conversation with God. I don't think it went quite the way Elijah expected!
In 1 Kings 19:13–18, God asked Elijah a rather pointed question:
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Nothing quite says you might be in the wrong place like God asking, “What are you doing here?”
Elijah proceeded to explain how faithfully he had served God, how Israel had abandoned the covenant, and how he believed he was the only one left standing for the Lord.
But God had news for Elijah!
He wasn't the only one left. God had preserved 7,000 others in Israel who had never bowed down to Baal. Furthermore, God wasn't finished with Elijah. He gave him additional assignments, including anointing Elisha to succeed him as prophet.
In other words, Elijah's perspective had become distorted by his circumstances. He thought everything was falling apart, but God was still very much at work!
And although Elijah had asked God to take his life, God had something far more spectacular in mind. Years later, Elijah would be taken up into heaven in a whirlwind, accompanied by a chariot and horses of fire. He was one of the few people in Scripture who departed this life without experiencing death.
Elijah thought his story was over, but God was still writing it!
What do we learn from these examples?
God doesn't always deliver us from our circumstances, but He will give us the grace to walk through them.
Paul understood this firsthand.
Remember when Paul pleaded with God three times to remove the thorn in his flesh? God's response was:
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)
God didn't remove the thorn, but He gave Paul something greater—the assurance that His grace and power would sustain him.
And isn't that exactly what Paul is communicating in Romans 8?
He asks whether trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, destitution, danger, or even the threat of death can separate us from Christ's love.
His answer is an emphatic NO!
In fact, Paul declares that despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us!
Notice that Paul doesn't say we will never experience trouble. Quite the opposite! He acknowledges that difficulties are part of life, even for those who belong to Christ.
Yet none of these things have the power to separate us from God's love.
David understood this truth when he wrote:
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19 NKJV)
Sometimes that deliverance comes through a miraculous intervention. Other times, God sustains us with His grace until we come through the other side. And ultimately, our complete deliverance awaits us in eternity.
But here is what we must settle in our hearts: God's love is not measured by the absence of trouble in our lives. His love was demonstrated once and for all through the sacrifice of His Son.
As we discussed yesterday, if God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, what more could He possibly do to demonstrate His love?
We cannot allow our temporary circumstances to cause us to question an eternal truth.
God loves us!
He has not forgotten us!
And He is not finished with us!
Remember, God's ultimate purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son. Sometimes the very circumstances we are asking Him to remove are the ones He is using to develop our faith, strengthen our character, and teach us to depend more fully upon Him.
Jesus Himself suffered, yet His suffering did not mean the Father had abandoned His eternal purpose. Through the cross came the resurrection, and through what appeared to be the greatest defeat came the greatest victory!
And that victory now belongs to us through Christ.
So when the clouds of trouble begin to roll in, don't allow them to obscure your view of God's love. The clouds may hide the sunshine for a season, but they cannot extinguish the sun. In the same way, our circumstances may make it difficult to feel God's love, but they can never diminish the reality of it.
Paul concludes this chapter with one of the greatest declarations of assurance found anywhere in Scripture. Neither death nor life, angels nor demons, our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell—can separate us from God's love.
Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord!
That is the assurance we need to carry into every battle. Our victory is not found in everything going our way, but in belonging to the One who has already overcome the world.
So don't let your difficulties convince you that God has abandoned you. Don't allow the enemy to use your circumstances to question what God has already settled through the cross.
Rest in His love. Trust in His faithfulness. Draw upon His grace.
And remember, the same God who loved you enough to give His Son for you is the God who will faithfully see you through whatever lies ahead.
The trouble may be real, but so is His love—and His love will have the final word!
How many of us have questioned God’s love when the world around us seems to be falling apart?
“Is God mad at me?”
“Why would God allow this to happen in my life?”
“Has God forgotten about me?”
It is easy to lose sight of Him when the clouds of trouble roll in. Yet our circumstances are not necessarily a reflection of God's feelings toward us. Just because life is difficult doesn't mean God has withdrawn His love or His presence.
Two Scriptural examples come to mind: John the Baptist and Elijah.
If you remember, John was in prison when he sent word to Jesus, asking if He really was the One they had been expecting. Jesus' response was telling:
“Then he told John’s disciples, ‘Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.’ And he added, ‘God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.’”
Luke 7:22–23 NLT
Think about that! John was the one who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River and declared Him to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Yet here he was, sitting in prison, apparently wrestling with some doubts.
Perhaps John had expected things to unfold differently. After all, if Jesus was the Messiah, why was John still sitting in prison?
Jesus didn't promise John that He would deliver him from prison. Instead, He reminded him of the evidence of who He was and encouraged him not to stumble because things weren't happening the way he had expected.
Sometimes our greatest test of faith comes when God doesn't do what we thought He would do.
Then there was Elijah.
Elijah had just experienced an incredible victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, where God demonstrated His power in spectacular fashion. Yet one threat from Jezebel sent Elijah running into the wilderness, overwhelmed with fear and despair.
In 1 Kings 19:4, we read:
“Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, LORD,’ he said. ‘Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.’”
Talk about going from the mountaintop to the valley!
Elijah had just witnessed God answer by fire, yet now he was so discouraged that he wanted to die. Isn't it interesting how quickly we can lose sight of what God has already done when we become overwhelmed by what is happening around us?
Yet notice God's response. He didn't abandon Elijah in his discouragement. Instead, He sent an angel to feed him, not once, but twice, providing the strength Elijah needed for the journey ahead.
Elijah then traveled forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, where he had a conversation with God. I don't think it went quite the way Elijah expected!
In 1 Kings 19:13–18, God asked Elijah a rather pointed question:
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Nothing quite says you might be in the wrong place like God asking, “What are you doing here?”
Elijah proceeded to explain how faithfully he had served God, how Israel had abandoned the covenant, and how he believed he was the only one left standing for the Lord.
But God had news for Elijah!
He wasn't the only one left. God had preserved 7,000 others in Israel who had never bowed down to Baal. Furthermore, God wasn't finished with Elijah. He gave him additional assignments, including anointing Elisha to succeed him as prophet.
In other words, Elijah's perspective had become distorted by his circumstances. He thought everything was falling apart, but God was still very much at work!
And although Elijah had asked God to take his life, God had something far more spectacular in mind. Years later, Elijah would be taken up into heaven in a whirlwind, accompanied by a chariot and horses of fire. He was one of the few people in Scripture who departed this life without experiencing death.
Elijah thought his story was over, but God was still writing it!
What do we learn from these examples?
God doesn't always deliver us from our circumstances, but He will give us the grace to walk through them.
Paul understood this firsthand.
Remember when Paul pleaded with God three times to remove the thorn in his flesh? God's response was:
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)
God didn't remove the thorn, but He gave Paul something greater—the assurance that His grace and power would sustain him.
And isn't that exactly what Paul is communicating in Romans 8?
He asks whether trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, destitution, danger, or even the threat of death can separate us from Christ's love.
His answer is an emphatic NO!
In fact, Paul declares that despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us!
Notice that Paul doesn't say we will never experience trouble. Quite the opposite! He acknowledges that difficulties are part of life, even for those who belong to Christ.
Yet none of these things have the power to separate us from God's love.
David understood this truth when he wrote:
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19 NKJV)
Sometimes that deliverance comes through a miraculous intervention. Other times, God sustains us with His grace until we come through the other side. And ultimately, our complete deliverance awaits us in eternity.
But here is what we must settle in our hearts: God's love is not measured by the absence of trouble in our lives. His love was demonstrated once and for all through the sacrifice of His Son.
As we discussed yesterday, if God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, what more could He possibly do to demonstrate His love?
We cannot allow our temporary circumstances to cause us to question an eternal truth.
God loves us!
He has not forgotten us!
And He is not finished with us!
Remember, God's ultimate purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son. Sometimes the very circumstances we are asking Him to remove are the ones He is using to develop our faith, strengthen our character, and teach us to depend more fully upon Him.
Jesus Himself suffered, yet His suffering did not mean the Father had abandoned His eternal purpose. Through the cross came the resurrection, and through what appeared to be the greatest defeat came the greatest victory!
And that victory now belongs to us through Christ.
So when the clouds of trouble begin to roll in, don't allow them to obscure your view of God's love. The clouds may hide the sunshine for a season, but they cannot extinguish the sun. In the same way, our circumstances may make it difficult to feel God's love, but they can never diminish the reality of it.
Paul concludes this chapter with one of the greatest declarations of assurance found anywhere in Scripture. Neither death nor life, angels nor demons, our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell—can separate us from God's love.
Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord!
That is the assurance we need to carry into every battle. Our victory is not found in everything going our way, but in belonging to the One who has already overcome the world.
So don't let your difficulties convince you that God has abandoned you. Don't allow the enemy to use your circumstances to question what God has already settled through the cross.
Rest in His love. Trust in His faithfulness. Draw upon His grace.
And remember, the same God who loved you enough to give His Son for you is the God who will faithfully see you through whatever lies ahead.
The trouble may be real, but so is His love—and His love will have the final word!
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