Separation Anxiety

A (possibly) familiar passage to begin with today from Romans chapter 8:

...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, except what it is that you are going through right now.

Hmmm, something just does not seem right in that quote so let me double check my Bible.  Oh, I see the problem.  Yeah, it is that last part:  “except what it is that you are going through right now.”

Ok, so let’s be honest for a moment.  How many of us have included that added little tidbit when we have been in the midst of whatever?  Be honest now, if not with me then at the very least with yourself and God.

How many times does God tell us that He will never, ever leave or abandon us?  It is a pretty big number to be sure.  And just how arrogant are we to think that we are capable of opening God’s hand or forcing Him to leave us?  I mean really, since He says He will not leave us then in order for Him to do so would require an act of force, would it not?  Or how much power and authority do we give to the enemy that we believe that he is capable of doing the act?  Let’s take a quick peek here shall we.

"'I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth...you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans'" ~ John 14:17-18

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'" ~ Matthew 28:18

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand." ~ John 10:28-29

"God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" ~ Hebrews 13:5

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." ~ Psalm 139:7-10

I like that last one from Psalm 139.  There are two ways to take that, you know.  On one hand it could be a statement of comforting fact.  On the other could be a statement of frustration, but still a fact.  If you have ever had someone who just always seemed to be where you were going or right on top of you so to speak, you may understand that a bit more.

Ok, so I think it may be safe to conclude that God has no intention of leaving us, nor can anyone (we ourselves are an “anyone” keep in mind) make Him walk or turn away from us.  So why is that we seem to add that part to the opening verses of this posting?  Even if we do not say it, we certainly do seem to act it far more often than we should.

Perhaps it is a trust issue on our end.  But if you cannot trust God, then who can you trust?  Unless, just maybe, our image of the character of God is a bit skewed.

So what are a few of the things that the Bible says about Him?  How about Him being patient and slow to anger or that He is loving, gentle and protective of us.  He is kind, caring, intimate and deeply involved in each of our lives desiring to be with us and have us with Him.  Yes, He actually wants us and to be with us just as we are right here and right now.  That He is forgiving – a God of not only second chances but of third, fourth, one hundredth, etc chances and very much full of grace and mercy.

Weird.  Nowhere does it seem to indicate that God is somewhere far off watching from His cloud, lightning bolt in hand, just waiting to zap me or that He is completely indifferent to me or anyone else for that matter.  Nor does His character seem to suggest that He is about to put some real distance between He and I when my world feels like it is in chaos any more than when it is all going well.

Have you ever felt like God was distant to you?  Like something was keeping you separated from Him?  That would be a lie.  Whether it is from your own mind or from something else sticking it there, it is a lie.  God is not distant from you.  He is as close to you right now as He was the day you turned your eyes and heart to Him.  After all, He wants to be close to you and I am willing to bet that if anyone is capable of getting what they want, it is God.

If you have been reading this and you have not turned your life over to God and long for a relationship with Someone who desperately really wants you and who will never, ever leave you take heart!  There is nothing that you have ever done – not one single thing – that will make Him say “no” to you.  He wants you just as you are right now.  He longs for you, yes, longs.  Since He so desperately does want to be with you, He made a way for you to get to Him and be with Him forever.

Romans 10:9 says "if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

You do not have to be in a church, nor do you have to know all the right things to say. You do not have to wait until you get your life all fixed up or that habit broke or anything else. All you have to do is pray – salvation is offered freely to you. So what do you pray? You pray to God. Acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and that He died for your sins and rose again. Ask Jesus to come into your life and turn your life over to Him as your savior. Thanking Him would not be a bad plan either, but that is it in a nutshell. Seems kind of easy doesn't it. So why don’t you? What holds you back? You do not have to tell me why, but perhaps you should tell yourself and God.