Everyone I talk to these days feels bombarded and oppressed in some way. Of course, the economy is affecting all of us. Add to that the health problems, family problems, and any other normal stresses of life, and we end up traveling from stress to distress before we know what hit us.
I remember a character on an old TV show saying, "When everybody's out to get you, paranoid's the way to think!"
Sometimes it does feel like everything is going wrong, and it is easy to give in to our weaknesses, to let our depressed, self-pitying, or frustrated sides crawl on in and take over for awhile.
The insidious nature of Satan is that this kind of attack is less easy to spot than if a demonic battalion showed up on our doorstep, isn't it? You would have the sense to call out for the help of God immediately if you saw overt Satanic attack, wouldn't you? But if you are merely crabby to your spouse or kids, or down in the dumps, you don't recognize it until you have been out of commission for the Lord for a day or a week. The result is the same as if you had been trying to fight a huge army on your own, though.
However, when it feels like the forces of hell--or depression--are right in the room with you, you are still under the protection of God's love. Of course, God never left you, and you do know it when you come to your senses.
Face it, we all are a bunch of failures for the Lord. Why do you think the above verses were written? Our failures cannot separate us from the love of God. Hallelujah! We will get depressed, angry, self-centered, and all sorts of not very pretty emotions that God knows about. We don't like our fellow believers to see them, but God does.
So, rejoice that his forgiving, unconditional love also fills your heart with comfort and protects you in your distress. Let it bring you relief from your burdens, whatever the cause of them.
Never forget that you are a soldier in God's army, and he is looking to you to stand tall and fight your position. You cannot do anything for him when you are battered and defeated by the enemy.
Tradition has it that Martin Luther was awakened one night with Satan standing at the foot of his bed, menacingly.
"Oh, it's only you," Luther said, as he rolled over and went back to sleep. Martin Luther was secure of who he was as a child of the King, and who Satan was: defeated at the cross, unable to harm him.
No power of Satan or weakness in yourself can change God's love for you. Jesus gave up his own life to demonstrate that love, so take a moment to let that love wash over all the aching places in your heart, giving you fresh hope. May you feel that love this very day in ways you never thought possible.
Remember that nothing can separate you from that love. Rejoice in it, take hope in it, and be courageous in Godly confidence of that love, everywhere you go.
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 keep God's love away.
Romans 8:38
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