One scripture that I love is in Romans; it’s Romans 8:37-39: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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.”
I love Paul’s words here. He could have just said that nothing will separate us from God’s love, but he doesn’t do that. He’s specific, really specific. He gives specific examples to make it real for all readers just how powerful God’s love is. Paul rules out anything and everything from separating us from God’s love, and that’s reassuring!
Paul wrote many of the books in the New Testament, and Paul had quite a life! He went from a life of persecuting Christians to a life of telling others about the love of Jesus. He suffered being flogged, beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and shipwrecked, and through it all, he preached of God’s love. Paul had a lot of excuses that could have kept him from following God, but he really spoke to how even these difficult situations couldn't separate him from God's love.
I was able to go to Malta this summer during our vacation, and my husband and I saw the island where Paul was shipwrecked. There’s a small church in St. Paul’s Bay called St. Paul’s Shipwreck Church. Although it was closed, so we couldn’t go inside, the outside was pretty amazing. Posted around the outside of the church, there was scripture from Acts 27:25-26 and Acts 28:1-2 and 9-10. This was posted in many different languages. This scripture tells of when Paul was shipwrecked on Malta and how the people were kind. It also mentions that many who were ill were healed by Paul. It was amazing to be in the place that the scripture was discussing.
Here’s a picture of the scripture on the outside wall of the church written in English and a picture of the church:
On our vacation, we were able to see many historical sites and visit places like Crete and Malta and Rome where Paul visited. What an amazing experience! It really did make Paul’s journey and the scriptures come to life! The difficulties in my life don't seem so bad when I look at all that Paul went through, and seeing his faith in God's love is inspiring! Paul’s writing is so relatable to so many–God really knew what He was doing when he called Paul to be a minister for Him.
I’m so thankful I was able to see what I did on our trip, and I can’t wait to go back and visit again. I'm also thankful for God's love and how powerful it is--truly, nothing can separate me from God's powerful love!
Thanks for reading, friends!
Love, Julie Gross
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