When we confidently say that everything is fine with us, it usually means that we have everything we want and that our plans are coming true. But does God have the same definition of well-being?
The verse is well-known and even sung in our churches. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NIV) Amen! But what happens when we go through a divorce? Or when we lose our job? Or that one of our parents dies without notice? If the circumstances of life are against us, does that mean that God is no longer for us?
We may mistakenly believe that this verse means that when we are in God’s good graces, no suffering can reach us. We believe there is nothing that can be against us because God Himself is on our side. Yet, to whom was this verse, this letter, sent? To the Christians of Rome: those who were probably the most persecuted. Who were against them? The emperor, the soldiers, the religious people: all the authority figures of the time were against the early Christians! So how could the apostle Paul say that if God was for them no one would be against them?
That is because this passage does not speak of our physical life. It is not talking about the freedom of the body, but about the freedom we have in spirit. No matter what the world throws at us as challenges or accusations, nothing can tarnish our soul. No one can remove our name from the Book of Life. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:35-37 NIV). Right in the middle of the arena, while they were devoured by the lions, the early Christians were more than conquerors! It is a difficult concept to understand.
In too many Christian circles, marriage is seen as a grace from God, a deserved favor. The Bible does say that finding a wife is a gift from God (Proverbs 18:22). But this is only one grace among others. Just because we’re single doesn’t mean we’re out of the favor of God! The Samaritan woman received grace from Christ that no one else received. She is the only one Jesus told He was the Messiah (John 4:26). And when she admitted to Jesus that she wasn’t married, he didn’t tell her to get married right away! He first made her a worshipper in spirit and in truth, and then she was a mighty witness to her entire village. She did not win her village by her marriage, but by her humility.
Even if we are single: God is for us. Happiness and grace accompany us every day of our life when we remain under the shelter of the Most High. Even though people with bad mouths doubt that God is granting favor to us, the divorced or Singles, who can accuse us if God is for us? The best position in Christ is when we are worshippers, in spirit and in truth. Regardless of our social status.