How do you respond? – February 19, 2024
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:31,32
How do you respond?
Daily Devotion – February 19, 2024
Devotion based on Romans 8:31,32
See series: Devotions
The apostle Paul was not the kind of guy to sugarcoat things. He told it like it is. And what did he regularly emphasize about the lives of God’s people in this world? That they were bound to suffer. But not just the suffering common to all humans living in this broken world. No, the suffering he highlighted revolves around those nagging doubts that Christians naturally have because their life experiences fail to match what they perceive God’s power and promises to be.
It makes sense—doesn’t it—that if you place your faith in an all-powerful God who claims to love you, everything in your life should go amazingly well? After all, why wouldn’t an almighty God pull every lever in favor of his faithful people to make sure their lives were painlessly carefree?
But what do God’s people experience instead? Trouble. Sorrow. Grief. Pain. Loss. Death. They suffer.
But Paul taught his readers that suffering should come as no surprise to Christians. God promises it, and it’s purposeful. It’s not meant to destroy us but to strengthen us. When suffering shows up at our front door, God asks, “How will you respond?”
Paul urged us to respond with some questions of our own. He wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
In other words, when suffering comes—and it will—it’s no time to throw in the towel. It’s time to recall who’s in charge: our almighty Savior, who loves us. He will never abandon us to suffering. He will use it for our good, and through it, he will prove his eternal saving and saving strength.
Prayer:
Jesus, help me remember in days of suffering that you are strong to save and will, in the end, graciously give me all things. Amen.
