GOD IS FOR US
In face of all this, what is there left to say? If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom. 8:31, Phillips.
She had come for counseling, as do many students in their later adolescent years, because of troublesome home problems. I asked her about her feelings toward her father. "Oh, I love him," she quickly replied. Yet, as our conversation continued, I sensed that the word love wasn't adequate to describe the mixed bundle of feelings she held toward her father. Along with love, there were strong feelings of fear, of extreme apprehension lest she should fail to live up to his expectations and have to face his blistering rebukes. She assumed that since he was her father he had a right to act that way toward her. It was all part of the package.
In a similar vein, there are men who will quickly confess that they love God. Who could say otherwise, in view of all that He has done for us? Many of us have been singing songs about our love for God (or at least for Jesus) since we could first talk. Yet there is often, lurking below the surface in our hearts, a strong mixture of feelings toward God. The feelings of dread in the presence of such holy power; the feelings of being overmanaged by One whom we dare not question; the subtle fear of being manipulated by the price He has paid for us--we often learn to tuck all these feelings into the basements of our minds. After all, we conclude, it's all part of the package.
It was to people very much like ourselves that Paul was writing when he reached that resounding conclusion after paragraphs of arguments: "What is there left to say? If God is for us, who can be against us?" With great earnestness, Paul wants us to know that God is every bit on our side. His every action is designed for the winning and healing of His hurting people.
We hear the words and smile warmly at their intent, but there is still that haunting fear that our failures will draw forth His coldness. We are in the habit of creating God in man's image. We remember too keenly the times people, people whom we love, have used their rejection of us to get us to do what they wanted. But rather than controlling us with rejection, our Father heals us with His love.
In face of all this, what is there left to say? If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom. 8:31, Phillips.
She had come for counseling, as do many students in their later adolescent years, because of troublesome home problems. I asked her about her feelings toward her father. "Oh, I love him," she quickly replied. Yet, as our conversation continued, I sensed that the word love wasn't adequate to describe the mixed bundle of feelings she held toward her father. Along with love, there were strong feelings of fear, of extreme apprehension lest she should fail to live up to his expectations and have to face his blistering rebukes. She assumed that since he was her father he had a right to act that way toward her. It was all part of the package.
In a similar vein, there are men who will quickly confess that they love God. Who could say otherwise, in view of all that He has done for us? Many of us have been singing songs about our love for God (or at least for Jesus) since we could first talk. Yet there is often, lurking below the surface in our hearts, a strong mixture of feelings toward God. The feelings of dread in the presence of such holy power; the feelings of being overmanaged by One whom we dare not question; the subtle fear of being manipulated by the price He has paid for us--we often learn to tuck all these feelings into the basements of our minds. After all, we conclude, it's all part of the package.
It was to people very much like ourselves that Paul was writing when he reached that resounding conclusion after paragraphs of arguments: "What is there left to say? If God is for us, who can be against us?" With great earnestness, Paul wants us to know that God is every bit on our side. His every action is designed for the winning and healing of His hurting people.
We hear the words and smile warmly at their intent, but there is still that haunting fear that our failures will draw forth His coldness. We are in the habit of creating God in man's image. We remember too keenly the times people, people whom we love, have used their rejection of us to get us to do what they wanted. But rather than controlling us with rejection, our Father heals us with His love.
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