“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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.” Romans 8:38
Several years ago I was struggling through a difficult time in my life when I felt like I was going it alone. God seemed far away and my spiritual vitality was gone. I was tired, overwhelmed by life and stressed. I was thirsty for refreshment but I couldn’t find it in church or work or vacations. I was nearly despondent when one day I came across this verse. It was a verse I had read so many times that I nearly had it memorized. But it had not made its way from my head to my heart. Suddenly, as clearly as if he were standing beside me, I heard God say to me, “Scott, you are not convinced.” I realized that I had never absorbed the startling truth that God really loved me with an undying, unequivocal and totally underserved love.
It is one thing to know this in your head, it is quite another to let it overwhelm your heart. And I learned that I could do nothing in this world until I was able to know the certainty of God’s love for me in any and every situation.
Refreshment begins with certainty. Just as uncertainty and doubt breed stagnation, fear and anxiety, real certainty based on God’s love for us in Jesus Christ produces in us a spirit that is enlivened, freed and refreshed.
Are you convinced?
Prayer
Gracious heavenly Father, you are the lover of my soul, and I claim that love right now. I pray today for that certainty that is promised to me in Romans. I stand before all that threatens my joy and peace and I say to it, “You have no place in me, because I am convinced!” Help me Lord, in my darkest moments to speak these words, confident that in you they are true yesterday, today and forever. Amen.