In All These Things

"One Year Bible" New Testament Passage
Romans 8:26-39 37

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39 (NKJV)

In Romans 8:35, Paul lists a litany of troubles: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword! This is not the picture of a happy life. This is PAIN! No one would want to live such a life. It is normal for each of us to seek the greatest pleasure and ease possible. I, for one, am all for it.

But, we who follow Jesus have a very fundamental problem. It seems that God often chooses to lead us into challenges rather than away from them. He seems to delight in giving us circumstances in which we can shine His glory. Romans 8:37 says "IN all these things we are more than conquerors." He places us right in the middle of chaos and says, "Now, you bring order." He puts us in the middle of despair, and says, "Now, you bring hope." He puts us in the presence of hatred and hostility, and says, "You will shine my love and my peace." We are placed in a messed up world so that we can bring the wholeness of Jesus right into the most fundamental and basic of circumstances.

How does He do this in us? How does He do this THROUGH us? He gives us an UNBREAKABLE CONNECTION. Nothing can break it. It is the steadfast, covenant love of God for you and me. It is stronger than the devil, stronger than distress, stronger than dirt! And it DEPENDS ON HIM. He has graciously conferred His love on us so that we might shine WHO HE IS to the world. My dear friend, THAT'S AWESOME!!! That's fantastic! That is enough to make anyone happy - no matter what.