Who can be against us?
Day 564, Thursday, Feb. 26
Romans 8:31-9:5
It seems like Paul is alternating between anguish and joy. That’s not accidental, and it’s not unprecedented. Today’s reading from Psalm 86 has a similar change in mood—the author begins by lamenting that he is poor and needy and ends by celebrating God’s deliverance.
The Christian faith follows in the Jewish understanding that bad things are real: there is evil, there is pain, there is death. God doesn’t shelter us from suffering, but he gives us victory over it. Even Jesus wasn’t protected from the pain of death—instead he defeated it through his resurrection.
When Paul writes, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” he isn’t suggesting we will have no enemies or obstacles—only that they ultimately have no power to defeat us.
Paul concludes that we are more than conquerors. A conqueror isn’t someone who is unopposed, but someone who rises above the opposition.
Opposition will come, but God enables us to overcome it. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or 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.”
-Rev. Mark Fleming
Thursday meditation
Psalms 86:1-13
Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.
You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.
Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.
Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.
Prayer focus
You have made us more than conquerors, God. Forgive and remove our doubts and fears.