I am convinced

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 8:38-39 NIV

We are saturated all around, these days, by media. Commercials, social media, magazines, newspapers- they all are focused on convincing us to believe and even act on their point of view. “Buy this!” “Agree with this!” “Vote for him/ her!” I don’t know about you, but there were moments during this recent American presidential election that I wanted to unplug from all of it. With all the cacophony of voices, I was convinced of one thing: I was NOT going to do what people said just because they told me to do it.

Our Heavenly Father is much more subtle, most of the time. He wants us to believe in Him. To wonder in Him. To KNOW Him, His love, and all that He is capable of doing. But, one way or another, by the time we see Jesus face to face, we will be fully convinced. How does our Lord convince us? That’s where the sometimes painful process of sanctification comes in.

Jesus told us that in this world we’d have trouble, but, if we were honest, we didn’t really believe it. We have somehow been fed the line that Christians who follow God faithfully will be inundated with good things all the time. I’m here to tell you, please take your blinders off. You must have missed all the passages that talked about sharing in His sufferings, how our brothers and sisters in the early church were violently persecuted for their faith, and even how Jesus Himself suffered and died.

Paul, a missionary we know well through all He wrote in the New Testament, as well as his friend, Luke’s writings about him in Acts, listed off a bunch of crazy mess that he went through… a sacrificially obedient servant of God!

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones,three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiledand have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

2 Corinthians 11:23b-27 NIV

I think that pretty much takes the cake, don’t you? So, stop listening to the prosperity gospel. I have to say that neither you nor I were as faithful to God’s calling as Paul was. So, let’s get real, ok?

If Paul suffered so much, what in the world would make him say that he was so convinced that absolutely NOTHING could separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord? It’s because he went through all those things and God proved over and over that He loved Paul. I look forward to sitting down to a cup of coffee with my brother, Paul (after a thousand years or so with Jesus!), and hearing his testimony after testimony of how God proved His love for him. I can say that, because I have a bucket-load of testimonies myself.

I, too, am thoroughly convinced that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God. Not shooting or kidnapping, not civil unrest or violent riots, not serious illness or separation from loved ones, not war or loss of home and ministry, not car accidents or injuries, not even betrayal or disloyalty of brothers and sisters in Christ, can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Why am I so convinced of it? Because I have lived it.

I recently testified before sisters in Christ, fellow workers in our country, about God’s faithfulness to us. My theme verse was something else that our brother, Paul wrote, and I know he said it because he had seen it ring true in his own life:

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV

I believe Paul was fully convinced of what he testified, because each time he suffered in some way, God’s gracious love was always there in abundance. And, because God’s grace abounded, his work for God could also abound. We can see by how the church expanded through his life’s ministry that it truly abounded. I am convinced. I really hope you are, too.