For the Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time…
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
My prayers of petition are filling up daily with a lot of strife. How about you? Ever feel like you have more prayer requests than praises? Yet St. Paul’s amazing eighth chapter in the epistle to the Romans continues this Sunday. One of my favorite confidence-building exercises is to take St. Paul’s words, and fill-in-the-blank with whatever is ailing me, or those I love, as I name the things that might be making me fearful or fretful. Try it with this line:
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor ________ … will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What’s nagging at you? Unemployment? Sickness? Heartache? Grief? Give it a name and add it to the blank space above. Then read that new verse aloud a few times.
God always has his eye on us. Nothing that the world dishes out can separate us from his love. The problems come when we take our eyes off of Jesus!
Go fill-in-the-blank with your fear or worry, and pray over this with Jesus.
Lord, I give this to you. Jesus, I trust in you.
