Today’s scripture: Romans 8:31-39 (NRSV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Jeff Miner):
Growing up, there was no one quite so special as my Grandma Miner. The thought that something might separate me from her love would be unbearable.
Then it happened. I was about seven years old. Dad had borrowed Grandma’s car — a 1964 Chevy Impala. Grandma’s big blue Impala was much bigger than our little Volkswagen Beetle, especially that huge back seat. My two sisters and I were wound tight, bouncing on the big back seat as Dad drove. Several times he told us to settle down. I was an angel, but my sisters always tempted me into trouble. So there we were — bouncing away when, on one especially good bounce, my head crashed into the ceiling dome light, shattering it.
“Jeff,” Dad said, “I warned you! Now you’re going to be the one who tells Grandma you broke her car.” I sat back in the seat mortified. For all I knew, it would cost thousands to repair Grandma’s dome light. I dreaded the thought of telling her. I was evil, terrible, awful! She would probably never love me again.
As we drove up to her house, I figured it would be best to get this over with. I ran into the house. She was sitting in her chair in the living room talking to someone. I threw myself into her lap crying. “Honey,” she said, “what’s the matter?” “Grandma,” I said, barely able to get out the words, “I broke your dome light!”
I’ll never forget her response. Without skipping a beat, she said, “Honey, don’t worry about that. We’ll just get it fixed.” Then she gave me a big hug – a hug I’ll never forget, one of the best hugs ever. It was then that I realized that nothing could ever separate me from the love of my Grandma – nothing! What a wonderful, secure feeling!
In today’s Scripture reading, God is trying to communicate that same feeling to us. “What shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Paul asks. The resounding, liberating answer comes back: Nothing! God’s love for you is as deep, and deeper, than my Grandma’s love for me. When we do something dreadful and throw ourselves in God’s lap confessing, God’s response is, “Honey, that’s ok. We’ll work together to fix it as best we can, then move on.” There are a lot of things we can do to cause pain and destruction in our lives, but there is nothing we can do to separate us from God’s love. And “nothing” means “nothing.”
Thought and prayer for the day: Confess, right now, the thing that you most fear may separate you from God, then picture God’s arms surrounding you with everlasting love.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to start, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.