But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, 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
Have you ever had one of those days? No, I don’t mean the bad kind. I mean the kind of day where you wake up on the right side of the bed and everything goes right? Somehow, miraculously, you’re living a charmed life on easy street?
All the lights are green on the way to work.
You just happen to stop at Target on a major mark-down clearance day.
You get a raise or a promotion or a pat on the back.
Your daughter gets called to the principal’s office – for a special award.
The new puppy pees outside.
The new baby sleeps through the night.
You have a good hair day.
It does happen. Some days really are awesome. You get to spend time with the people you truly enjoy – or perhaps you get to spend time alone, soaking up the peace and quiet. You accomplish something that is important to you, or maybe you do something just for fun, for once. And you want to jump up on top of something and shout, “I’m king of the world!!!”
Well, maybe not.
On those rare occasions, super amazing good days leave me so thankful, so overjoyed . . . and a little bit nervous. Because I JUST KNOW that even though every good gift is from God and He has plans to prosper me and He works for good in my life, trouble is most likely just around the corner. As the pastor at our old church used to say, “If you haven’t faced this particular problem, just buckle up.”
I’m not sure this looming fear of what’s around the bend is sound theology or a good approach to life in general. But thinking about how it is my tendency, this opposite of counting chickens before they hatch thing, has made me wonder about how I view more challenging times.
When life gets hard, when Easy Street is a distant memory, when nothing goes right at all, do I treat those seasons as temporary the way I do my good days?
When the lights are red and I get a speeding ticket, when the puppy chews on my new shoes and dinner burns and the baby has The Worst Rash Ever, when my daughter brings home a note for talking back in class – AGAIN, when my co-worker takes credit for my hard work – do I think to myself, “Just buckle up, because this is when things get real good?”
Most often . . . no. I don’t. I get bogged down in the everyday and the difficult, and I forget. I forget about God’s plans to proper me and His work for good in my life. I focus on words like, “Ugh! Not again!” or “That’s so not fair!!” or “WHY ME?” and fail to pull up Truth and encouragement like, “And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?”
And that’s just it. God IS FOR US. And nothing – no bad day, no rough week, no hard season – can stop that. No, nothing! No Debbie Downer reaction, no loss of hope, no belief that blessings are fleeting while problems are forever. NONE OF THAT will make God’s love any less real, any less true.
He is FOR US. He LOVES US. And not even my attitude or outlook can change that.
Whew! I don’t know about you, but I am so very grateful that I’m included in that list of what cannot change the very nature of God and His love for me. I pray that today you rest in this truth. NOTHING can separate you from God’s love. Hard times, hard hearts – they simply can’t change who He is and who He loves (you! I mean you!).
Let’s not forget this anymore, friends. Write it on your mirror, bookmark it on your laptop or phone, memorize it in your heart:
For I am convinced that [NOTHING] shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.