Can anything ever separate us from
Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or
calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or
threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake
we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep) 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. Romans
8:35-39
When my
wife and I got married, we moved into a house near her parents. We did not have very much, and at times, we
struggled. We once had the power shut
off, and we endured a stretch of being unemployed. That was nearly two decades ago, but I still
remember like it was yesterday. I’m blessed to have such an amazing wife who
stuck with me. Together, we have enjoyed a lot of good times, and endured some
bad times. In thinking of those tough
times, I thought about a line from the comical movie, The Naked Gun. It is something I should remind myself of
more because the world can be tough and cruel.
It said, “It's a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the problems of two people
don't amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our
beans!” It sounds silly, but that is
what my wife and my lives are together.
I might not have gotten everything for her that I wanted, and it may
have taken longer to get some of the things she wanted. But what we have together is this beautiful
hill. It wasn’t always pretty looking,
and others might want something more.
But it’s ours. The beans that
built it didn’t always fit, and some whittled away where we need to fill it
with others. But again it’s ours. Our hill.
Our beans. And with God as our
foundation, we can make it through anything.
The
relationship we build with God is ours, and there is nothing that we cannot
endure with it. There is nothing perfect
about our life because we are not perfect.
We all fall short of God’s glory.
Furthermore, the world will attack you pointing out that you are not
worth much. Chants in the wind sound
something like, “You do not matter,” and “You cannot possibly make a
difference.” These are not just the
voices from others but also the voices within you. When we get to God, we look saying we are not
worthy of His love and affection. We are
but . . . a hill of beans. But when you are
built on a foundation of the relationship with Jesus Christ, you come as you
are, and let Him be your support system.
You may have just a hill of beans, but God accepts you as you are. Even if you have a house of brick on a street
of gold, God will be your foundation when you still feel you have nothing.
Our God is
a God of all. He does not discriminate,
and He saves no matter who you are and what you have. He does not count what you bring, but He
expects you to surrender all. So whether
you feel worthy or not, fully connected or totally disconnected, spiritually
content or filled with holy discontent, realize He is always there for you. Trust in Him as you struggle with all that is
around you. What situation or feelings have
you feeling disconnected with God? How
can you focus less about what you bring to Him and focus on bringing all to
Him? My prayer is that when you feel
like you don’t have much going for you, remember an awesome God wants to remind
you, “This is our hill. And these are our beans!” Amen.
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