“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39
Nothing can separate you from the love of God, not then and not now.
A very powerful statement I found myself reflecting on as I was led through Lectio Divina, a prayer method that immerses you in the scriptures.
As I closed my eyes and allowed God to draw my attention to a moment in time, I found myself looking into her eyes so many years ago. I was afraid and felt alone as she wasn’t able to be there as I thought I needed. In this prayerful moment, God asked me to look into her eyes, to see her pain and to know that I would experience this same pain one day. He was present in that moment then and He was present many years to follow when I shared that pain.
Why do I doubt His love? Why do I find it hard for Him to always love me? Is it my definition of love?
Why is it so hard for us to feel loved? From God? From others?
Perhaps it’s our expectations of what love feels like. We define love as a feel-good experience, not a feeling involving pain, or feelings immersed in struggles or brokenness.
Romans 8:38-39 sums it up nicely – NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.
Through my journey, I struggled with feeling loved. When it came to God, I saw Him as the tyrant God. He was disappointed in my failures and I had to win His love through doing good.
Today, “I am convinced” that nothing can separate me from the love of God. I have this broken cross that says LOVE on it. This cross reminds me I am broken. I’m not perfect. I’m a sinner and definitely broken but I am loved. I was always loved, even when I didn’t see it or feel it. Even in that moment, many years go when I felt afraid and alone.
By giving us free choice, He reveals His love. He cradles the tiny seed, waters it in our shortcomings and blossoms it into a beauty we could never have imagined. It is His unconditional love that takes our brokenness, our pain, our sinfulness, our deepest struggles and heals it, renews it, refreshes it and builds His Kingdom from it.
My journey is a testimony to what God does in us. He watered and fertilized me, even when I was clueless. When the time was right, a beautiful flower grew from that tiny seed. He still tends the weeds, waters and fertilizes the ground. I’m still a baby when it comes to understanding the depth of His love. How to receive it? How to respond?
My self-advice in my last blog centered around His love and a series of questions on how I can love Him. I believe this is my next phase of growth in my journey, working through the process of answering those questions so that I can fully love God as He fully loves me. I’m not sure if I can ever achieve this fullness but I do know the more I strive towards it, I am closer in relationship with Him, closer in awareness of His love in every moment and every breath of my life. It’s what I was created for, to love and serve God.
“Man was created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord and in this way to save his soul”
St Ignatius of Loyola
I invite you to read through Romans 8:38-39 and let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart through those verses. What is He telling you?
When your done, take a few minutes and listen to Matthew West’s song “Truth Be Told”. There is a part in the song where he mentions God’s unchanging love. Perhaps our truth is all we need to speak to know that unchanging love in the depths of our hearts.
May God’s blessings and love fill you today and tomorrow.
Women Who Walk By Faith 
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