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Verse:For 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:38, 39, KJV
In the pandemic of 2020, a virus roamed the earth like a curse and pushed people into hiding. As a captive in my home, my life consisted of online meetings, phone conversations, and email deliberations. I missed my children, family, friends, and colleagues. I yearned for the things I took for granted: dinners with family, walks in the park, and hugs from my grandchild. My heart hurt for my aunt struggling with the disease, my mind meditated on the threat to my sister living with cancer, and my soul supplicated for the curse to vacate our planet. To fight fears, I counted my blessings often: The smile of my son, Samuel. The laughter of my daughter, Crystal. The sweet voice of my grandchild, Adrian, calling me Nana. The love of my friends and family. The peaceful home with my husband, Walden, and my sister, Nathalie. And the joy of my educational ministry.
One particularly dark day, I caught a glimpse of a picture of Samuel, and my heart overflowed with a swell of gratitude and love that startled me! While the whole world stopped and the globe froze, in the corner of my couch, looking at my son’s picture, I had a revelation, and it is simply this: God loves me.
The veracity and the grandeur of God’s love sat me down and settled me into an unquestionable certainty that if I, being a sinner, can love my son so intensely, God’s love for me must be immeasurable and incomprehensible.
I imagined that even a quick look or a fleeting thought of me must overwhelm God’s heart with love and mercy and pity for me even now.
In my darkest moment, God drew close and reached into the deepest part where the Holy Spirit shone the light of the truth that He loves me! Much more than head knowledge, it was a deep conviction that even the possibility of death or the promise of disease couldn’t extinguish the brilliance of God’s love for me.
When life is at its hardest, God will use anything to draw us to Him so we can trust and believe, beyond all doubt, that His love for us is the one true thing.
Rose Joseph Thomas