In Romans 8:35-39, Paul says, “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. 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.”
No challenge or difficulty or problem or pain or power can separate us from God’s love. Paul tells us that means that we win. We are conquerors of all these tribulations. The greatness of the reward, being with God and loved by Him, makes the cost of suffering anything, more than worth it. Knowing Him and being known by Him are the ultimate reward. The more we are allowed to overcome for His sake, the more our lives testify to the truth of His worthiness.
In fact, the more we suffer for Him, the more intimately we come to know Him and be identified with Him. God’s grace in this is unimaginable. We should certainly take heart in the midst of all our troubles.
