Nothing Can Separate Us

I have an 87 year old uncle who I am close to. Since he never married or had children, my mom and I spend a lot of time with him. About a year ago he went into an assisted living facility. He had just moved to a new facility when we began hearing about COVID 19. We had visited him once and the next week I told Mom I thought we should go "just in case." Never would I have dreamed that months later I still have not been able to hug or touch him. It hurt, wondering, if he understood why we were not visiting. I was afraid he would think this was the rule at this new place. Mom and I began visiting every other week, standing outside the glass front door and holding up signs. We have signs explaining, again, why we cannot come in; how Mom doesn't go anywhere either; how we don't go to church - all hoping he understands. We hold up signs about funny memories. We hold up signs asking him yes or no questions. We hold up signs that we love him and that we will be back soon. I can tell by his face that he knows we love him and he loves us! Even that glass cannot separate love!

I was thinking that the COVID 19 may keep us separated from my uncle - by glass - but it cannot separate us from the love that we three share. Isn't that how it is with God? So many negative things in life but none can separate us from God. Recently I heard a song by Kirk Franklin called "My Life Is In Your Hands" and it really spoke to me during this pandemic. The lyrics are:

"I know that I can make it

I know that I can stand

No matter what may come my way

My life is in your hands

With Jesus I can take it"

Romans 8: 38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ, not even the Corona Virus.

Paul recognized that we may be tempted to think God no longer loves us during difficult times. We can be assured of God's love for us in the last phrase of Romans 8. God's love "is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." When we believe this we are able to live boldly and share this love with others. We are inspired to be bold for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Whether we seek or fail, God's love for us is constant in our lives.

Nothing in the present, nothing in the future, nothing up, nothing down can separate us from God's love. Not death, not Angels or demons can separate us from God's love. Nothing in the present and nothing in the future can separate us from His love. No power in heaven and no power on earth can separate us from His love. Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Through the gift of His son, nothing can separate us....nothing!

"We have a great deal of worth in the eyes of God. I never tire of saying over and over again that God loves us. It is a wonderful thing that God Himself loves me tenderly. That is why we should have courage, joy or the conviction that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ." Mother Teresa