Rom.8:35 - “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” A child can be removed physically from her father but not from her father’s love. Nothing that could ever happen to Eliana nor anything she could ever do would separate her from my love. Paul phrases this question rhetorically, asking first who and second what will separate us from God’s love. He continues, in verses 38 and 39, clarifying the point confirming no one and nothing can separate us from His love. God can not violate His own character - He never changes (Heb.13:8, James 1:17). Remember, God is by nature faithful so nothing I could ever do would cause Him to not be faithful (see post entitled “Faithless,” Sep.10th, 2008). Likewise, God is love (1Jn.4:16) and nothing I or anyone else could ever do would cause Him to quit loving me. Furthermore, His love for me is an unconditional, AGAPE love, evidenced by Him putting me and my good first. Trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness and danger all seem to my human thinking evidence of neglect and seem to contradict the idea that God loves me unconditionally. Many people point to those very things as evidence of God’s passivity or nonexistence. They are not! Even in the midst of those trials, His love is steadfast (1 Peter 4:19). He is working in me during times of suffering, doing a deep and thorough rebuilding, with my best interest in mind (James 1:2-4). Like I always say, if God can crush my flesh to heal my soul He will. Even when everything seems to indicate I have been abandoned, the truth is that nothing can separate me from His love. Even in the worst circumstances there is so much to look forward to; no one and nothing can steal the hope I have in Him (see post entitled “Present Sufferings,” March 25th, 2009).
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