Love That Will Never Let Go!
“Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?” Romans 8:35 (CEV)
It’s easy to wonder where God is when we are hurting. Our pain can deceive us into thinking that somehow God has abandoned us. Even the heroes of faith in the Bible questioned where God was in times of suffering. King David, who wrote most of the Psalms, cried out, “My eyes fail, looking for my God … Where can I find Him?” Psalm 69:3b; 42:2 (NIV;LB)
In all of Job’s trials he said, “If only I knew where to find Him … if I go to the east, He is not there, if I go to the west, I do not find Him. When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him.” Job 23:3a;8-9 (NIV)
From the other side of the struggle, however, both would acknowledge that God was there with them. He had not abandoned them at all.
In Romans 8, Paul deals with the struggles and trials of life we all encounter whether it is because of human, natural or supernatural events. Regardless of the cause, the promise is clear – NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ! “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.” Romans 8:37-39 (NIV)
In the painful times of life when you feel so alone -- claim His promise. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. You cannot do anything that would cause God to love you less, nor can you do anything to make Him love you more! God is for you. His love will never leave you nor forsake you whatever the reason. You may not understand the trials of life, but you can always know you are deeply loved by God!
I love the way the old hymn writer expresses God’s love in this song, O Love That Will Not Let Me Go, by George Matheson, written in 1882. Although deprived of his eyesight in his youth, he experienced a love that never let him go. When asked about the origin of the song, he wrote, “I felt myself rather in the position of one who was being dictated to than of an original artist. I was suffering from extreme mental distress, and the hymn was the fruit of pain." Here’s the first verse of his hymn:
“O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.”