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Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no
longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry
or cold or in danger or threatened with death? (Even the Scriptures say,
"For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like
sheep.") No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through
Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from
his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't.
Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell
can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest
ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of
God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39 NLV). Someone sent me a wonderful story
about a farmer who owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly
advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along
the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic,
wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants
for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin
man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good
farmhand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind
blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the
farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the
farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the
farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping
quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming!
Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed
and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind
blows." Enraged by the old man's response, the farmer was tempted to fire
him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his
amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with
tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the
doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.
Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant,
and he returned to bed to also sleep while the wind blew. |
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