Zion Lutheran Church

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

We often face a lot of pressures in our daily lives. In addition, some things seem like more than pressure – they feel like genuine threats to our safety or wellbeing. Whether it is the weight of responsibility; the intrusion of an illness, unemployment of the death of a loved one; or some other thing that tears at our core – all of us have moments when it feels like we are all alone and even on our own.

Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds us of a basic truth that is the deepest truth in life: The God who has come to us in Jesus loves us and nothing can take that away from us. Paul lists all sorts of things from all sorts of places (death, life, angels, rulers, powers, etc.) that may scare us or threaten to hold sway over us. But Paul also emphasizes – none of them are as powerful as God’s love for us in Christ.

Paul eventually will be counting on this truth to be motivating. Instead of being paralyzed by fear, Paul wants us to be transformed by God’s love in Christ and mobilized to withstand and even transform the things that hold peoples’ lives captive.

So, when you are feeling tired, weak, sad or tempted to throw yourself a pity party – instead head to Romans 8 and read the truth that may help you put things back in perspective. God loves you and always will. Nothing can change that or take that away.