Nothing Can Separate Us

I worry sometimes that the people I love won't love me anymore if I mess up. In some cases, that might be true. We humans don't have perfect patience, and I may exhaust the sympathies of others with my constant mistakes. God's patience, however, is inexhaustible. I'm sure that God gets irritated with me just like my human neighbors do, but those feelings aren't enough to negate God's love for me. Even if I go on to do terrible things that break God's heart, He will still love me. No matter what harm I do, God will always be there striving to restore the the brokenness I've caused in myself and others with His loving touch. Even if God turns His face away from me, He will never turn His back. God's love will always be stronger than my sins.

Some of my human relationships also fall victim to space and time. I move away from friends and slowly lose touch with them. Today I struggle to maintain contact with friends from high school, but it just can't be the same now that I live halfway across the country from them. In college, I saw my closest friends every day, and now I see the ones who still live nearby only once a week or so. I don't need to worry about these things when it comes to God. There is nowhere that I can go that God cannot come with me. God does not have to choose how to use His time because He can do everything at once. God always has time for me, and God can always be with me no matter where I am.

I may even find myself separated from the people I love by powers outside human control. Things like diseases and accidents can become obstacles to relationships. Death will separate me at least temporarily from people that I love. Though I hope nothing of the sort ever happens, people I love could even end up in prison or held captive by kidnappers or terrorists. There are forces in this world that can separate me from those I love whether I like it or not, but nothing can separate me from the love of God. Even if I am trapped in a place where no one can find me, God will be there trying to comfort me. Even if I lose my senses and can no longer comprehend the affection of my loved ones, I will always be able to feel God's loving touch in my life. God can transcend the powers that hinder humans. Nothing can separate me from the love of God, because God's love is the most powerful thing there is.

Because the apostle Paul's words on this subject are so powerful, I will close with them: "I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:28–39)