Monday, June 26, 2023

Listen to the Word

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."  (Romans 8:35,37)

Jesus once guaranteed that difficulties would come our way. He said, "In this world you will have trouble." And this week's Scripture gives a depressing list of seven kinds of problems we can expect to face: trouble... hardship... persecution... famine... nakedness... danger... sword. All of these things work overtime to pry us from the grip of Jesus, trying to put some distance between us and his love. But those difficulties are not up to the task. Christ's compassion is holding on tight, and he won't let go. You can even come up with your own personal list of all of the bad things that have happened, or are happening, or might happen - no matter what is on it, it is no match for the love of Christ.

The bad news is that we can expect hard times to come - we will not have pain-free lives. The good news is that those hard times are 98-pound weaklings compared to the limitless strength of our loving Savior.

Live the Word

What is the scariest challenge before you today? Lift it to God in prayer, and ask him to reassure you that no difficulty can pull you away from him.