Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
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 8:35-39
The Apostle Paul certainly wrote those words from his own experience. To the Corinthians he wrote: ” Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” -2nd Corinthians 11:24-28
Paul didn’t survive and endure all those things just by luck. Paul learned that absolutely nothing could separate him from the love of Christ. He learned to know that God was with him, directing his life, and saving his life when necessary. God had a purpose for Paul- the proclamation of the Gospel to the nations. God had determined that nothing would stop Paul until his work was finished.
We are living in a perilous time, threatened by a new disease that can result in death for some who are infected. It is frightening. Fighting this disease has dramatically changed all of our lives in many ways. But it must not and cannot change our faith. For what can separate us from the love of Christ? Absolutely nothing. Not even COVID-19.
God has a purpose for you, too. He is directing your life, and, when necessary, he is saving your life. Christ will be with you to watch over you until he determines your work here is finished. Truly ” in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” We are more than conquerors because Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has conquered sin, death, hell, and the devil. In Christ we share in that victory, and in Christ we have life now and eternally.
-Pastor Anderson