Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?.... No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:35,37
One day while I was lining up a lovely picture of a kookaburra on a visit to the vineyards, a noisy mynah bird descended right into my picture as I snapped the shot. The result, as you can see, is a great action shot that I couldn’t have taken if I’d tried, but not the shot I was looking for.
Sometimes life can be like that. Suddenly something will happen that will totally change life as we know it. Trouble descends in many forms, sickness, adversity, redundancy, death, depression… there are any number of ways that life can deal its blows and we get totally thrown off track. The test for us comes in how we respond.
We must always bear in mind the truth of John 10:10 in which Jesus said, “The thief comes only to rob, kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have abundant life”. We should also keep in mind that, as with Job, sometimes God allows adversity to come. I want to share some thoughts that came to me while I was praying for someone who has taken a huge ‘hit’ from the enemy.
The first response for many of us when we get targeted by the enemy is not to get angry at the enemy, but to get depressed. (Not everyone is like me in this but I know that many will be.) Self pity is such a human response that can sometimes take us quite awhile to overcome. It is vital however that we do overcome otherwise it allows a foothold for the enemy to create more chaos for us. Self pity leads to depression, depression can lead to overeating, overeating can lead to self-condemnation or self-loathing which can bring isolation from people and even from God. In times of adversity we need God and we need people, which is why the enemy likes to isolate us by making us feel unacceptable, unworthy or hard done by.
It is imperative that we rise up when trouble descends. If trouble has come then the Lord knows about it and is with us in it. We are not separated from his love, neither are we separated from his help and strength to walk through it to victory. Our job is to grasp the experience with one hand and the word of God with the other and walk through this with praying friends. It is a privilege to stand alongside others in their distress and bring comfort and encouragement to them from the times that the Lord has comforted us (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).
Prayer: Dear God of all comfort, please strengthen me to rise up in the midst of every trial that comes my way by grasping the truth of your word. Amen
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