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Shall Trouble or Hardship?


Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written: “For your sake, we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35-37)

                There are times when I feel a zillion light years away from God. Now is one of them. There are other times when I sense that God is right with me. I’m functioning on about three-and-a-half hours of sleep, and what sleep I got was stressed, so God is right here with me? I don’t even want me to be here with me.
                I’m not looking for sympathy. We’ve all been here. Maybe the problem wasn’t a lack of sleep. Maybe it was a lack of time. Maybe it was any of a million other things that can put us in a mood or give us a ‘tude that needs prayer. And God is nowhere to be seen. Grumble, grumble, grumble. My first, less than polite answer is, “Well, Karen, maybe if you’d take your eyes off yourself for a second or two….” And I’m right. If I skipped the pity party, I’d be better off. I might be able to see things more clearly, including God. 
                But here’s the real reason I’m telling you about how frustrated, angry, or otherwise negative I’m feeling. My feelings don’t change anything. If trouble, hardship, -persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword can’t separate me from the love of Christ what makes me think tiredness or crankiness can?

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