Some people love making lists: tasks to do today, things to fix at home, bills to pay, plans for the weekend. Some people are not me. I am likely to endure lists at best, or to avoid them altogether if I can get away with it. And as long as I am being completely honest here, let me confess that I sometimes catch myself skimming over lists in the Bible if I'm not careful.
I thought about this tendency (bad habit, actually) today when I realized I was yada-yada-yada-ing my way through the following verses:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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 8:35-39 (NIV)
I found myself reading, "shall trouble or hardship or yada, yada, yada..." I know this verse. I've read it hundreds of times already. But wait...what was that? "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors..." I know the conquerors part. I like the conquerors part. What caught me off guard was the "in all these things" part.
I've never faced persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword. But trouble and hardship? In today's unstable economy, trouble and hardship might not be so far away. Unemployment is already at the highest point in decades, and company after company are laying off employees. Just today, General Motors announced plans to cut another 47,000 jobs this year.
I used to think of conquering as rising above, that we would somehow no longer be subject to these troubles. The truth is that the scripture promises we would be more than conquerors "in all these things", or as the New Living Translation puts it, "despite all these things". The Message paraphrase says it this way: "None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us."
I could make a list of all my woes, and I may even be able to work hard and change some of them. But no matter how uncertain the future, or how long we must endure things we cannot change, there is a greater promise at work in our lives. If you find yourself in the midst of trouble or hardship, remember that Jesus loves us and nothing in all creation can separate us from that love.
"I know that you have a plan for my life, God, and that you are faithful no matter what comes my way. I pray that you would always remind me of this truth: that you loved me and sent your Son to die for me. Because of your love for me, I can endure whatever this world throws at me. And I can be more than a conqueror in spite of trouble or hardship, because nothing can separate me from your love. Thank you for your love, and for your patient endurance as I learn to love you in return. I give you all the glory and honor. Amen."
