No Longer a Slave to Fear

I remember how I felt about God before I became a follower of Jesus Christ. I thought of Him as being unapproachable, disinterested and angry. I could never have imagined calling Him my Father! But Paul tells us in Romans 8:15 that as we receive the forgiveness that only Christ can give, God’s Holy Spirit gives us new life as God’s children. No longer slaves to the fear that once ruled over us, as God’s children we now call Him “Abba, Father”.

Our Heavenly Father promises to treat us with a loving kindness that is far deeper than any earthly father can provide. God’s love in Christ is unconditional. He accepts us just as we are, but He loves us far too much to let us stay the way that we are! As He begins to transform us into the people He wants us to be, we may face difficulties and hardship along the way. And I have come to understand that it is in the valleys of life where we find the most fertile soil for growth!

But irrespective of what comes our way, Paul encourages us in Romans 8:35-39 as he asks: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  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.”

What a blessing it is to know that nothing we suffer this side of heaven can ever separate us from Christ’s love. When we face trouble, hardship or mistreatment, when we are in want or in danger from natural disaster or war, we need not fear, for He promises to be with us. Many of those to whom Paul wrote would be called to face these very things for the sake of Christ —and he wanted them to hold on to the certain truth that even these circumstances would not separate them from Christ’s love. No matter what happens, we are to hold to that truth too — we can be victorious in any and every circumstance as we stand firm, assured of His love.

Paul was utterly convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God. And words almost fail him as he tries to describe all the things that are powerless against God’s love. He begins with death, man’s greatest enemy. But far from separating us from God, death ushers us into His presence. Then he says nothing in life can separate us from the love of God. No circumstance, no obstacle, no threat, nothing. He moves on: no spiritual power — angelic or demonic —can ever change God’s love for us. Nothing in the realm of time can threaten His love: nothing in the present and nothing that comes our way in the future will interfere with God’s incredible love. No power of any kind, no height of prosperity or depth of misery — in fact, nothing in all creation can change the way that God see us and cares for us.

And when we really understand this truth, loneliness and fear are ended because we know that our Father is with us and we can trust in His constant love, the love that has been revealed to us in the gift of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

May God bless you

Michele

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.