Saturday Reflection – 21 August 2021

Saturday Reflection – 21 August 2021

“God proves his love towards us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Have you ever been asked the question, “Well if God loves us so much, how comes so much trouble is happening to us?” Or “Why doesn’t God stop all the evil and calamity that is happening in the world?” These questions came to my mind in my own reflection on today’s doctrinal text, as we as a people, seem to often ask God to prove his love for us. Furthermore, we tend to set standards, such as the ones made in these two questions, and use them to question God’s love for us.

However, as the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5, he acknowledges the peace that we have as Christians, through our Lord Jesus Christ. And now being saved, we can rejoice in our salvation and not only that but also in our sufferings. Hear Paul in verses 3-5 “And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” As the Apostle writes, he makes it clear, that our sufferings, our experiences, the hardships, and challenges that we face, are there to produce endurance. Think about the lessons that we gain, the stronger we become, the more value we put on the fruits of our labour, just because of how hard it took to get there. Then endurance produces character. Look at the resilient people we become, trusting in God, and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Finally, character produces hope, which has been defined by the Wiley Online Dictionary as “the confident expectation of what God has promised, and its strength is in His faithfulness.”

We trust God to be who He says He is and will do what God says He will do. That God will work all things together for good, according to God’s will, God’s plan, and purpose for our lives. Hope then, will not disappoint us, why, because God’s love has been poured in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Have we ever been refreshed, or strengthened, just by a song, by prayer or worship, by reading a bible verse, or by the encouragement given to us by our family or church member or friend? Often, we are reminded that God loves us, and because God loves us, he will remain faithful. And we feel better or strengthened, committed to trust God, and believe that God will make a way. That hope that does not disappoint us, because God remains faithful to his promises.

Having said all this, Paul reminds us of the ultimate example of sacrificial love given to humanity, in the death of Christ on the cross. That the godly died for the ungodly. It is through Christ’s sacrifice that we are saved and sanctified. Had Christ not taken our place, and paid the penalty for sin, then we would have to meet judgement for ourselves. Isn’t that love, and a love that none other could match. In fact, Jesus said in St. John 15:13 “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” This demonstration of God’s love is the ultimate example, and the ultimate reminder, that no matter what we face, no matter the hardship, the challenge, God still loves us, and the God who through Christ went all the way to Calvary, will go all the way, to fulfill his will, his promise and purpose for our lives. So, we ought then, to trust and obey. The challenges that we face are not an indicator that God no longer loves us, nor have we fallen out of God’s care, especially when we remain faithful to God. The challenges are meant to refine us, and will produce endurance, then character, then hope, which in the end does not disappoint us.