29/7/2010

INSEPARABLE LOVE
Read Romans 8:37-39

37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below-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.

The tough times we go through have the capacity to drive us away from God or bring us closer to him. This passage reminds us that in principle there is no reason for them to drive a wedge between us and God. Our problems need not define or rule our relationship with God. His faithfulness rather than our fears is the bottom line.

And yet we can become embittered, we can become infantile. Life hasn't turned out the way we wanted. God seems to have let us down. We may be tempted to pick up our bat and ball and retreat into sulky disappointment. Our troubles have become a barrier between God and ourselves.

Better by far to allow those troubles to bind us to God. We can aid this process by taking the time to discern what God is telling us in the midst of the troubles. We can give the troubles to him and ask him for wisdom, for strength, for comfort. We can both plead for an end to them and pray that they be a growing and learning experience. Chances are, they will be an opportunity for us to rely more on him as our only help rather than vainly seek support from our usual crutches.

When troubles come we are caught up in a battlefield. The evil one wants them to cause us to give up on God, whereas God invites us to allow them to lean more on him. One way is defeat and despair. The other way is healing and hope. However great our pain or our trouble, it need not push us away from the only one who can give it meaning.

Blessings
David Reay


http://www.hope1032.com.au/
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