Conversations with God: Inspeparable

Who shall separate?

Three words skip through my thoughts like pebbles dancing across a pond. Rude, they interrupt my drift into tranquil slumber and linger, reaching out in a slow spread until I am consumed.

The One who probes my deepest parts will not relent. He nudges gently, then waits patiently for my reply. I wonder about the motive behind His pursuit. Still I hesitate to follow.

What comes to mind is the conviction Paul shared in a letter to his friends in Romans 8. I relate to the hardship and suffering. I feel like a naked beach, beaten by the waves of an angry storm. I am angry too, weak and broken, afraid to see what remains of me.

The Spirit knows. His voice whispers again:

Who shall separate? Is there one to deliberate? Shall the ocean's storms or the fire's flame destroy my love for you? 

Pain surges. I don't want to talk to Him now, and He knows it. He answers with grace:

No, I tell you. The trials only compel you to know me more, to come ever before My throne of grace. Come sit with Me in the Most Holy Place.

The Spirit hovers, but I hide. I realize the answer won't be found in the thoughts I think, but in the reality of my knowing Him face to face. There are walls I can't let down, so I stubbornly say what I hope will satisfy Him. "Lord, You know. Nothing can separate me from your love."

He probes deeper, boldly goes where I don't want to:

Dare to believe you can be like me. Conformed to the image of Christ. Though we are different, we are alike. In unity your heart beats with purity. I am in you, and your spirit is one with me. The storms were necessary to break you free from your idolatry. Now, stop hiding in fear and complacency. It is time to shine.

Yes, I am afraid. Can you blame me? When I cried for help, You were silent. When everything around me was crashing down, You stood and watched. When the winds raged, and the fires burned, you gave me no place to hide. How can this be love? 

I was there, watching, seeing, knowing. I held you in my hands and wept your tears. But I saw something in you far greater than what was showing. The storms were my Refiner's fire. Very painful, but necessary to prove your devotion to Me. I never abandoned you. I carried you through. 

You have taken away all I thought was me. I am nothing, empty, broken, unable to see. 

Barrenness is born from in-dependency. I created you to bear fruit abundantly. You say I am enough. But do you believe? You must learn to trust, especially in the storms. For the seed you carry will surely be opposed. You must learn to live and love in war.  

And only when you become content in knowing you can do nothing without Me, can I trust you to bring forth My greater glory. It's time to heal now. Rest in Me.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. who have been called according to his purpose...

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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 8:31-39

Photo Credit: flicker - Saparevo

Romans 8:31-39 as taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. As found on Bible Gateway.