Romans 8:38 & 39 (NLT) And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We all face many different problems in life, at times they seem to be really big and other times more manageable. Sometimes we have a solution for them and sometimes we don’t. Of great concern however, is do we allow those problems to position us? Do we allow them to decide “How we are”? Or as the verses above indicate, has our position already been determined? Will we decide to walk in our predetermined position even in the face of huge unresolved…perhaps even unresolvable difficulty?
Though the scripture above doesn’t necessarily give us a solution to any particular problem it does give us a viable answer to all of them. When we ask ourselves the question, “What am I going to do now?” the answer can rightly be: “I don’t know yet, but this current crisis won’t separate me from the love of God which is made known to me in my relationship with Christ”! That answer may not do anything to solve the problem, but it will do everything to cement our position. Why is that so important? It is critical in fact because we have an enemy who knows that if he can get us to look at our condition instead of our position he can call into question the goodness of the God we serve. Then he can try to convince us that if God really, really loved us He wouldn’t allow us to go through our particular current trouble. That ploy is designed to kill your joy, steal your peace, and destroy your faith…all three of the plays in his playbook. Resist those considerations…they are lies!
If life has taught me anything it is that our problems aren’t permanent, not only do they change in frequency and severity, but tomorrow will bring along with it another crop of new ones. That being said our problems should never be considered to be our position. These verses clearly illustrate that no matter what the problems may be, where they may come from, or how severe or critical they may seem…they do not determine our position. Our position is determined by the fact that no crisis can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus! Why does it matter? Practically speaking, the fact is that our emotions are associated with our position, and our decisions are often affected by our emotions. If we want to make beneficial decisions, we have to view a situation from a positive solid position. When our circumstances are tumultuous, that can be highly difficult unless our position in Christ is what we are considering first and foremost.
I will never forget the moment I was diagnosed with cancer almost two years ago, I immediately looked into my wife’s lovely face and declared, “This isn’t going to steal our joy”. To this day I am grateful for the intervening of the Holy Spirit and His wisdom that gave me that answer to such a scary circumstance. It became, and has continued to be our mantra every time this disease rears its ugly head in our lives. When we found out it would require surgery we declared…” This isn’t going to steal our joy” When my recovery from surgery was longer and more difficult than I anticipated and caused me to wonder if things would ever improve…we declared it again. Later when radiation as well as other treatments became necessary we declared it yet again. Have we been lying to ourselves about the problem? No. We both knew then as we know now, cancer is not good, and is unwelcome, yet is an ongoing part of our story. But has our position changed? No. We are both still immensely and intensely loved by God in Christ Jesus. Has our position made a difference in our outlook, emotions and subsequent decision making ability? You bet it has!
Scriptures like the one referenced today are critical to Spirit filled, power driven, successful living. Our creator God knows that, and so, gives such direction to us. Jesus said it, “In this world you will have trouble…but take heart I have overcome the world”! One of the ways God lovingly directs us to take heart is by considering first our position, then our problems. I am so thankful for a God who would not create us and let us flounder in the difficulties of life, but rather One who gives us instruction such as this from His word to point us to how we can press forward no matter how big or worrisome the trouble ahead.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT) All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
So now, recognizing your position, and standing firmly in it…Go be Awesome!