God's Love
What can we ever say to such wonderful things as these? If God is on our side, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son for us but gave him up for us all, won't he also surely give us everything else?
Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has forgiven us and given us right standing with himself?
Who then will condemn us? Will Christ? No! For he is the one who died for us and came back to life again for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor in heaven.
Who then can ever keep Christ's love from us? When we have trouble or calamity, when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it because he doesn't love us anymore? And if we are hungry, or penniless, or in danger, or threatened with death, has God deserted us?
No, for the Scriptures tell us that for his sake we must be ready to face death at every moment of the day - we are like sheep awaiting slaughter; but despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are - high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean - nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us. Romans 8:31-38 (TLB)
Felisberto Dambi is from the Southern Province of Zambia. Felisberto vividly remembers the day he received bad news from back home. He was in seminary in a foreign country, and at that moment, he felt lost and in despair. He could not help but ask, Where is God when it hurts? Where was God when all these things were taking place in my life? Felisberto believes that life brings hard circumstances to us all. But God cares deeply about each of us. God spoke and is still speaking to Felisberto in the midst of his pain.
In the vast African forest where the seminary is located, Felisberto was listening to the songs of the birds and the noise of the bugs when his attention was drawn to Romans 8. He heard God speaking to him through the holy scriptures in the midst of his pain. The first thing we learn from this passage in Romans is that we all go through suffering. That's why the apostle Paul asks, "Who will separate us?" The answer resounds: No one and nothing can separate us from the love of God! God's love outweighs the pain. sometimes God delivers us from the pain and other times God delivers us in the pain. No matter what the circumstances, we are surrounded by God's love.
Prayer: Caring God, surround us always with your love, in Jesus' name. Amen.
