Loved

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:31-39

It is the child who complains to his parents, “you don’t love me,” when he is denied some desired comfort. Paul’s spiritual maturity is evident in this explosion of exultation in the love of God. He states in emphatic faith that the things we suffer because we confess Christ are no sign that we are not loved by God.

It is easy to read these words and feel the beauty of them in the comfort of my home on a calm winter morning as the sunlight pours in through the window and warms my soul. But what will I say when the days are harder, the trials are more severe, and the outlook is dim? Will I by faith with Paul declare that Christ’s love is as real and secure on that day as it was on the day on which He died for me?

We must return again and again to Golgotha and look at Christ there. We must remind ourselves that God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, and thereby we know He will also graciously give us all things. We must believe that even when we are crushed, we are conquerors through Him who loved us. We must trust that we will arrive in glory, even if we have to walk through hell to get there.