To Encourage You

Romans 8:37-39 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure 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.”

The love of God: nothing can separate a believer from it.  However, the truth is that although God infinitely loves His own, there are other spiritual beings that hate us. They are those described as “angels and rulers” in the text above.  This speaks of those dark angels and dark rulers in the hierarchy of the enemies of God. It is these beings that believers wrestle against, and who are elsewhere described as “rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). It is these spiritual forces that work to tempt, deceive, and discourage every believer, so that they fall into the trap of doubting the love of the God who gave His life for them. 

But God would have us know that rather than separate us from Him, they do nothing but give a backdrop upon which His love is more clearly shown. How could we understand love if we were never shown the opposite of it? It’s in the contrast between evil and good, ungodliness and godliness, hate and love, that the glory of God is even more clearly understood.

So, what are you dealing with right now? Do you find yourself defeated because you’ve given in, once again, to some temptation to sin?  Are you discouraged, depressed, or in despair with thoughts of how worthless, lazy, or hopeless you are? Are you guilt-ridden because you were deceived by yourself or someone else into some foolish choice for which you have nothing but regret? Please know that those thoughts are nothing but lies that come not from the one who loves your soul, but from the one who hates you and wants nothing more than to steal from, kill, and destroy you. No matter how you feel, and no matter how overwhelming things look, nothing can separate you from God’s great love, not even the demons of hell should they all, at this moment, be arrayed against you. Trust God. Trust His great love, for in the end you will see that, through it all, His infinite love was set upon you, all the while.