Never Alone

Never Alone

Text: Romans 8:35–39 Big idea: Because we are held by the love of Christ, no trial can separate us from His presence, His care, or His purpose.

There is something about a child’s faith that can cut through all the noise.

During Joy Junk and Jesus one of our little girls shared that one night something shook their house. That can be scary for anybody, but especially for a child. You hear the noise. The house moves. You do not know what it is. You do not know whether you are safe.

But she said that instead of giving in to fear, she remembered: “Jesus is always with me. So I don’t need to be afraid.”

That little girl did not say the house was not shaking.

She did not say there was nothing to fear.

She said, “Jesus is always with me.”

That is the heart of Romans 8:35–39.

Romans 8:35–39 CSB

35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul does not tell Christians that life will never shake. He tells us that no shaking in this world can separate us from the love of Christ.

Paul asks:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”

Then he says:

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

And finally:

“Neither death nor life … nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Here is the truth I want us to carry home today:

If you are in Christ, you are never alone. Your trouble may be real, but it cannot separate you from the love of Jesus.

Paul does not say Christians have no tribulation. He says tribulation cannot separate us.

He does not say Christians never face danger. He says danger cannot separate us.

He does not say Christians never die. He says even death cannot separate us.

The point is not that our troubles are small. The point is that Christ’s love is stronger.

1. The trial may be real, but Christ is still present

Paul gives us a list: trouble, hardship, persecution, hunger, danger, sword.

He is not writing from an easy life.

Paul had been beaten. He had been opposed. He had been imprisoned. He had been rejected. He knew what it was to be hungry, tired, threatened, and misunderstood.

So Romans 8 is not sentimental. It is not a religious way of saying, “Everything will be fine.”

It is a stronger word than that:

“Everything may not feel fine, but Jesus has not left you.”

Psalm 23 says:

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

The comfort is not that there is no valley.

The comfort is that there is a Shepherd in the valley.

Some of you are walking through a valley right now.

Maybe it is a health concern.

Maybe it is grief.

Maybe it is trouble in your family.

Maybe it is fear about your children or grandchildren.

Maybe it is financial pressure.

Maybe it is discouragement you cannot quite explain.

The valley is real. But if you belong to Christ, you have never taken one step into it alone.

2. God’s Word helps us see what fear makes us forget

The problem is not always that God has left.

Often, the problem is that fear has pulled our eyes away from Him.

When life shakes, our minds begin running.

“What if this gets worse?”

“What if I cannot handle it?”

“What if nobody helps?”

“What if God does not come through?”

And we can become so focused on the storm that we forget the Savior is in the boat.

That is why we need the Word of God.

Meditating on Scripture is not pretending problems do not exist. It is bringing what is real in our lives underneath what is true about God.

When fear rises, you need something more solid than your own thoughts.

You need to know what God has said.

“The Lord is my Shepherd.”

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

“Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

When you meditate on Scripture, you do not just read it and move on. You stay with it. You say it. You pray it. You repeat it when fear shows up at night.

You say, “Lord, I do not understand this. But You said You are with me. You said You will not leave me. You said nothing can separate me from Your love.”

And over time, the circumstance may or may not immediately change. But your eyes begin to change.

You begin to realize: God never left. I had just been looking so hard at the problem that I forgot to look to Him.

3. Sometimes God meets us in the fire

Think about Daniel’s friends in Daniel 3.

They would not bow. They were thrown into the fiery furnace. The king expected three men to die.

Instead, he saw four men walking in the fire.

God did not keep them out of the furnace.

But He met them in it.

Most of us will never be thrown into a literal furnace. But all of us have fires.

The fire of grief.

The fire of sickness.

The fire of disappointment.

The fire of family pain.

The fire of uncertainty.

The fire of temptation.

The fire of being misunderstood because you are trying to follow Christ.

And we pray, “Lord, get me out.”

That is a good prayer.

But sometimes God answers, “I am going to show you that I am with you in it.”

You may not see the Fourth Man with your physical eyes. But later you may look back and wonder, “How did I get through that?”

How did I keep going?

How did I keep believing?

How did I keep loving?

How did I keep praying?

How did I not fall apart completely?

And the answer is not, “I was stronger than I thought.”

The answer is, “Jesus was nearer than I knew.”

Maybe you did not avoid the fire.

But you were not consumed by it.

4. God often reminds us of His nearness through prayer

There is a woman in Southeast Asia known as “Momma.” She lives in an area of tribal conflict and civil unrest. She began hearing Bible stories and said, “There might be something to this Living God.”

Then her family’s pig died. In her setting, that pig represented months of income. Villagers gathered. Momma went into that pigpen, got down on her knees, and prayed, “God, if You’re real, show these people that You’re real.”

The report says that while she prayed, the pig stood up.

The next day, Momma believed in Christ and was baptized.imb

Later, she prayed for a woman who had been bedridden in severe pain for four months. That woman was restored, heard the gospel, and trusted Christ.

People came to faith through Momma’s witness.

But then she admitted something honest. She said it was hard being the only one there. Everybody thought she was crazy. She was discouraged. She felt alone.

Then she heard that hundreds of Christians were praying for her.

And she said, “Now I know that I will never be alone.”imb

Listen: the greatest miracle in that story is not ultimately a pig standing up.

The greatest miracle is that a discouraged woman came to know the Living God—and learned that He had not left her alone.

Sometimes God answers in a way that makes us stop and say, “Only God could have done that.”

A door opens.

A need is met.

A person calls at just the right time.

A verse comes to mind when you need it.

A doctor finds something early.

A friend shows up.

A check arrives.

A conversation happens that you could never have arranged.

We do not build our faith on chasing dramatic experiences. We build our faith on Christ and His Word.

But when God provides in those timely, personal ways, do not brush it off too quickly.

Receive it with gratitude.

Say, “Thank You, Lord. You see me. You know me. You are near.”

Take this home

This week, take Romans 8:38–39, cut the verses from the hand out and tape it to your mirror or perhaps your refrigerator. Put it where you will see it.

Read it every morning.

When fear comes, answer it with the Word.

When you are tempted to think, “I am alone,” say:

“Nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord.”

When the house shakes—literally or figuratively—remember what that little girl remembered:

“Jesus is always with me. So I do not need to be afraid.”

You may have a hard week.

You may walk through a dark valley.

You may stand in a fire you did not choose.

But you will not walk alone.

You will not stand alone.

You will not suffer alone.

And you will not die alone.

Nothing—not life, not death, not fear, not pain, not the past, not the future, not anything in all creation—can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.