Paul asked: 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ' (Romans 8:35 NIV)? And the answer is...nothing! Then he came up with a laundry list of worst-case scenarios, from trouble to danger and anything in between: 'Trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword'. When Paul wrote 'hardship', he was back in the Mediterranean Sea during a terrible typhoon. 'Persecution' pinged his memory of being stoned at Lystra and left for dead. 'Trials': Paul stood trial before Nero himself. He also went without food, was bitten by a poisonous snake, and had the clothes stripped off his back so he could be flogged. This did not happen only once or twice. Five times he received the maximum sentence - forty lashes minus one. Paul's back was whiplashed and crisscrossed with at least 195 scars.

Hardship has one of two effects: it hardens or softens our hearts. And it's the hardening or softening that makes us or breaks us. Research in psychology shows that between half to two-thirds of people who survive extreme hardship or crisis later experience positive personal changes - a phenomenon known as post-traumatic growth. It's the tough times that test our love, but also prove it.

The love of Christ wasn't proved by his miracles - it was proved on a Roman cross. And it has proven to be fail proof. So no matter what trouble, hardship or persecution you face, this too shall pass. More importantly, Jesus is with you and Jesus is for you. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate you from his love!

— SCRIPTURE —
'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' Romans 8:35 NIV
— SOULFOOD —
Eze 27:25-30:26, Matt 18:10-20, Ps 80:1-11, Pro 15:11-14