What’s Your “Neither?”
By Susan Klein
“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 8:38-39 (NIV)
I wonder if you’re
like me. I have days where I feel completely run over by my circumstances.
Sometimes, they hit me so hard and catch me so off guard, I feel like a
helpless hit-and-run victim. Like today, it’s a bit hard for me to focus on the
gorgeous, hot and sunny weather when my furnace just very suddenly died. And my
husband’s car is about to die. And our family pet of 17 years just recently
died. Man, life’s casualties can be real joy-robbers!
Perhaps that’s why
we are told not to fix our eyes on our circumstances. Oh, that doesn’t mean we
don’t think about them or deal with them or even grieve over them, we just
don’t make them our primary focus. After all, everything here on earth is
temporal. Our possessions and circumstances bring us momentary troubles or
fleeting happiness, not true joy. Our real treasure to focus on is the immensely
incomprehensible love our Father has lavished on us through His Son, enabling
us to be called His children. And that is eternal! Neither awful situations nor
difficult people can negate the Father’s love for us. Neither the evil one nor
his fiery darts of temptation can stop or weaken God’s love. Neither the
world’s hardships nor man’s criticisms can deem us less loved and valued by our
Creator. Neither separation nor death of a loved one can extinguish the flaming
love God desires to pour out upon His children.
Rudyard Kipling’s
poem, “If,” starts out: “If you can keep your head when all about you are
losing theirs…” It lists many other “ifs,” and then finishes by stating the
world and everything in it will be yours. Similarly, if we can keep our focus
on the Father’s love rather than on our momentary hardships, then we will be
blessed with peace, and strength, and hope, and every good gift He desires for
us to possess. All the trials and difficulties of life will eventually fade
away, but God’s love will remain forever.
So, what
circumstances might be running you over, keeping you from focusing on His love?
What’s your “neither”?
GOING
DEEPER:
1. Consider memorizing Romans 8:38-39.
2.
Meditate on the immensity of God’s love for you.
FURTHER
READING:
Susan
is married to Mark, and has two adult children. She enjoys teaching Bible
studies, writing, and tutoring with the Literacy Council. She is a member of
the Peace Team at Oakwood and also co-leads an on-site small group.
