"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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.
Romans8:35-39
When trouble comes we often ask ourselves "What does this trouble say about my belief in a loving God?" But this is the wrong question. It gives trouble too much authority. There's a better question: "What does my belief in a loving God say about my trouble?"
And Paul is ready with an answer:
1. The Love of God is tougher than any trouble that may come our way. Look at the escalation: trouble - persecution - famine - nakedness - sword. Even when our lives are made cheap and it seems like no-one else seems to care and we are like sheep in the abattoir, God continues to love us and His love remains real for us.
The Christians Paul was writing to in Rome experienced this. They were taken to the Colosseum to face the lions and gladiators, they would be covered in tar and set on fire in Nero's gardens, they would hide out in the catacombs fearing persecution. Yet the church grew and the gospel spread.
2. With God's love undergirding us we can overcome our troubles and circumstances. We can "keep the faith", we can remain Christ-like, we can forgive, we can get up and keep going, we can point the way for others.
The problem is that we think our circumstances are an indicator of God's love for us, but this is not the case. If things are going well for someone else but badly for me, it does not mean that God loves them more than me.
This world is broken and we are the ones who broke it. In this broken world trouble is a reality. God's love is bigger than my trouble and with His help and comforted by His love I will get through.
Remember this: At the very centre of all the heartache and trouble in the world there is a cross. On that cross Jesus gave Himself, embracing all our pain so that we will NEVER be alone.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
