“I am convinced 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.”

Romans 8:38-39

Romans 8 is an extraordinary chapter in scripture. It begins with the apostle Paul proclaiming that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

In the middle of the chapter he writes, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.”

And then we have the grand finale in verses 38-39 where Paul boldly proclaims that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If we simply take this chapter at face value, we might wonder how in the world could Paul be so bold and confident in these proclamations. Yet, consider a portion of his letter to the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 11:24-28):

Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.

I believe Paul had sufficient experience to proclaim that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God. It’s almost as if he used his sufferings as stepping stones to become closer to God.

But what about us? What do we do with our suffering? I must admit, I am prone to allowing the least little annoyance to bother me more than it should. But all of us have (or have had or will have) our fair share of real, legitimate suffering…some more than others.

It may be that we are not able to be as bold as Paul. Maybe we are not that confident. Or maybe we are in lock step with Paul…bring it on! Regardless of where we find ourselves in relation to how we view our suffering, hopefully we can acknowledge that God is with us during difficult times. He does not and will not leave us.

The suffering of Jesus on the cross is our ultimate example. The horrors of the cross did not give way to the evil intentions of those who put Jesus there. For we know that through the power of God, Jesus was resurrected. Frederick Buechner wrote, “Resurrection means the worst thing is never the last thing.”

The worst thing is never the last thing, indeed. We finished our study of Adam Hamilton’s book Why? this past Wednesday at our church. In the last chapter, Hamilton wrote: “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is itself a shout from God that good triumphs over evil, that the forces of light will defeat the forces of darkness, and that life will vanquish death!”

Separation anxiety is a very real emotional response. However, as followers of Christ, we should be able to take comfort that we will never have to worry about separation from God. The worst thing, whatever that may be, is never the last thing.