I thought I could move on. I thought I should move on. But I can’t. Not without adding something else to our discussion concerning God’s love. What I must include is a word of warning. Having fallen prey to it myself, I want to inform you of the trap so you can be aware.
You see…we have an enemy, and he has a strategy. But if we can know what he’s after and have an idea of his tactics we’ll have a better chance of surviving his attacks. This scripture gives us a hint as to both.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Romans 8:35
This verse reveals that the difficult circumstances of life are challenges that are designed to separate us from the love of God. They are temptations to doubt the fact that God loves us.
If there was ever an example of someone who knew he was loved of God it was the disciple John. He says so in the gospel he authored, calling himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. Take a quick glance at John 13:23, Jn 19:26, Jn.20:2, Jn.21:20 to see how repeatedly he makes this claim. Love is also the primary theme of his epistles and the Revelation of John opens with “To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood” Rev. 1:5. John is often called the Apostle of love. Yes, John was well established in the fact that God loved him. What might have escaped your notice though is the circumstance he endured that more than likely seriously challenged the belief he was so settled in. As recorded in Acts 12:1-2…
About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword…
It’s so easy to read over this verse and not take time to ponder the agony John must have endured at this loss and the extent to which it shook him. Maybe you have had a circumstance in your life that’s caused you to question God’s love for you. You too, like John, may have lost someone special to you. There are countless situations that occur in our lives that have the potential to destroy our confidence in the goodness of God and His overwhelming love for us. I don’t claim to have all the answers but I want to encourage you that if you find yourself questioning God’s love for you in even the slightest way, please don’t. Remember that we have an enemy whose sole purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. If nothing else, don’t let him steal your belief in God’s love. Remember what we discussed in this previous post as to the overwhelming reality of God’s sacrifice of His Son in order to save us from eternal death as stated in John 3:16. It was none other than John who penned that truth. But in the face of a heart-wrenching challenge, John also knew that at times simply having that knowledge wasn’t going to be enough. For not only did he pen John 3:16, but also I John 4:16, where he added an element we dare not overlook.
“So we have come to know… and to believe the love that God has for us…”
Yes, sometimes it might come down to making a raw decision.. apart from feelings or evidence. Because sometimes, knowing is not enough. We’ll have to choose “to believe the love that God has for us”. It might be tough, but if need be perhaps we’ll have to resort to the simple, childlike faith of the song lyric “Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so“. No matter what…
Believe the Love
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