Not Even THAT!

Romans 8:35-39 is one of my very favorite sections of God’s Word.

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? …

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 8:35, 37-39 NLT)

I love to think about this verse in the mornings. How powerful it is to start a day knowing that there is nothing that can happen in that day—nothing I do or nothing done to me—that can keep me from God’s love. It is still there waiting at the end of each day.

These really are some of my favorite verses. So, when my cousin was posting pictures of these shirts (pictured below) she was selling a while back to support a student at their church battling cancer, I knew I wanted one. What a cool message in a season of sickness and uncertainty that not even those trials could separate someone from God’s love.

I got a shirt from my cousin when I was visiting Kansas back around Thanksgiving time and excitedly wore it home on the airplane back to Buffalo. It prompted conversations throughout the day including one with my teammates at work about how neat it was.

Little did I know that within 24 hours I might need that message for myself.

The next day at my annual routine physical, my doctor discovered something in my neck, specifically on my thyroid, that seemed a little “off”. She reassured me that many people (over 50%) get a thyroid nodule at some point in their life and less than 5% cause issues or contain cancer. My doctor was not at all concerned but wanted to send me for an ultrasound and lab work just to make sure. The ultrasound led to a biopsy which led to a six-week wait before another biopsy, both of which came back “indeterminate”.

Basically, they had no clue if I had cancer or not. The cells just didn’t give enough information.

After meeting with a surgeon in February, we made the decision to move forward with surgery. Six months after discovering the nodule, on May 30, I had the right half of my thyroid removed, along with the nodules.  Thankfully, recovery is going well and I’d say I’m about 90-95% back to normal 4 weeks post-op. Even better news: the third and forth biopsies (during and after surgery) seem to indicate the growth was NOT cancer which means a second surgery is not necessary at this time.

I still remain thankful for the reminder my shirt proclaims:

Nothing can separate me from God’s love.

And this is not just a truth for those battling cancer… we can all cling to God’s never-ending love. Whatever we’re walking through, it can’t keep us away from it!

No sickness. No brokenness. No guilt or shame.

No school shootings or political debates.

No family fights or drama with friends.

No anxiety.

No worry.

Not even that one thing you have in your mind that you’re certain is the exception.

NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

NOT. EVEN. THAT.

What a beautiful truth we can live in today, tomorrow, and every day!