I found myself thinking about last week’s lesson and the implications of it for all of us. Realizing that God has and will continue to be so intimately involved in His children’s lives, including those times when He needs to get our attention through discipline, is challenging. Looking at Jeremiah’s words in Lamentations, the great anguish he expressed, has caused me to want to build on it even further. So, my intent today is to draw our attention towards our hope through all that life may bring us..
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
The apostle Paul knew all to well the cost of serving Christ, for he experienced it from both sides. He knew the anguish he caused so many as he persecuted the church, only to experience some of it himself once he gave himself over to Christ. He knew what it was like to undergo the discipline of God, as he agonized over his thorn in the flesh (2nd Corinthians 12:7). Still, it was he who penned the words above, giving us insight into how to deal with life in this world. So, where do you place your confidence? Do you see God as being on your side regardless of where you are at? Paul wants to make it clear, that if God truly gave us redemption through His Son’s sacrificial death, “shall He not with Him also freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32)? The Psalmist would write, “I will fear no evil, for You are with me…” (Psalm 23:4). Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” If our focus is on God, then we can face whatever life may send our way.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Romans 8:35
I am challenged by that list, are you? Still, God yearns for us to grasp the vastness of His love, knowing that in doing so, we can face such events with hope and assurance. Thus, he goes on to say, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). Like with Jeremiah, understanding God’s love for His people can help us see life with greater clarity, especially during times of distress. Paul worded it this way, “For I am persuaded…” of “the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 9:38, 39). If I am persuaded about God’s overwhelming love for me, then I can say with all assurance, “If God is for us [me], who can be against us [me]?” (Romans 8:31). May the love of God empower you to live this day and every day, victoriously.
Dennis
