Have you ever had one of those seasons in life where everything seems to be going your way?
Whether the dominoes started falling as a result of your hard work, or you just got every break along the way, those times made you feel invincible. It was as if you couldn’t lose.
However, there is an opposite kind of season, too. Have you ever had one of those days, weeks, or months where it felt like you were the statue and everybody and everything else in life was a pigeon?
Maybe things got so bad you became nervous to answer your phone because every phone call seemed to bring bad news. You woke up in the morning each day with a feeling of dread, wondering what else was going to add weight to your shoulders and overfill your already-full plate.
Can I share a confession? I am in the middle of one of those seasons. It’s a weird and difficult place to be. I’ve been thinking about this particular season, in light of this month’s theme at Air1, “God’s Unfailing Love.” At many points during this recent season of weariness and discouragement, there have been a couple of moments where God‘s love did not necessarily seem “unfailing.”
My flesh wondered why God kept allowing these hard times, disappointing outcomes, and heartbreaks to come my way. Have you ever had one of those times where it felt like if God‘s love was “unfailing,” it would’ve or could’ve kept you from experiencing so much heartache and pain? I think it’s a natural, human question to wonder why His unfailing love couldn’t have kept you from this season where you felt like a failure.
When I was in the midst of a similar reflection, I paused there for a time, but then I moved on and ultimately settled in a different place. As I was reflecting on the question, “wouldn’t God's unfailing love keep me from ending up somewhere like this?” I also began to consider whether God‘s unfailing love couldn’t also be true as He continued to walk with me and didn’t abandon me in the face of such difficulty.
In the book of Romans chapter 8 we have one of the richest and most encouraging texts in all of the Bible. It is one of my top three favorite chapters in all 66 books of the Bible. In the final section of verses in this chapter, we see words that have lifted and encouraged followers of Jesus for centuries.
Paul closes out this section of his letter to the Romans by talking about how nothing can separate us from his love.
Romans 8:37-39 states, “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 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.”
I totally understand how some of us can end up thinking that God‘s unfailing love should keep us from hard things. However, the reality is that no amount of hard things can separate me from God’s unfailing love. His unfailing love walks with me and sustains me. When I feel like I cannot keep going, His unfailing love carries me through the deepest and darkest seasons.
As helpful as this thought is, I know people who struggle with the idea of love, especially God’s love. The idea of love for them is weak, squishy, and fragile. When it comes to the qualities of God’s character, some don’t think about love as synonymous with “robust strength.”
Nevertheless, in the description that Paul gives in Romans 8:31-39, God’s unfailing love paints a clear picture of strength, robustness, and an anti-fragile nature. To overcome and make us “more than conquerors” in the face of such adversity and opposition, His love must be the embodiment of strength. After all, it is His unfailing love that is with us and present in us no matter what is happening all around us or coming towards us.
So this week, when I got another piece of news that left me initially speechless and then reeling for days, I stepped back and reminded myself of this truth. Even with this new knowledge and in the midst of this new crisis, God‘s love had not waned. His love had not weakened and His unfailing love had not departed.
No matter what my enemy Satan or the realities of a broken world brought into my life…
No matter how tired or weary I felt…
The one thing that had not changed was God‘s love for me.
So, I want to encourage you today to spend some time meditating on God‘s love for you. Maybe that means playing your favorite worship song that reminds you of God‘s love. One suggestion is “God Really Loves Us” by Crowder and Dante Bowe. In the chorus, they sing:
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Perhaps that means opening up your physical Bible or the Bible app on your phone and reading the 39 verses of Romans 8. If you don’t have the strength to read those words? That’s okay. Check to see if your Bible app might be able to read those words to you, as you close your eyes and allow the truth of God’s unfailing love wash over you. No matter what obstacle you have endured, no matter what obstacle you are facing today, and no matter what obstacle comes your way in the days or weeks to come, the one thing I can promise you is that God’s love will remain true.
For those of us who are in Christ Jesus, it is His love that will endure and overcome even till the end.
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer with the coolest last name ever. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani and they are the parents of three “little savages.” He helps hurting people forgive others through his Free to Forgive course and you can read more of his writing at scottsavagelive.com
