Joy and the Present Love of God

Paul writes of sufferings of the Christian in Romans 8; things, none of which can separate us from the love of God.  Paul does not say that conquest is found in escaping these things, nor in their removal from our lives.  Conquest is found when even in the most horrible of situations, these things cannot separate us from the love of God.  Of course this means that we can experience and live in the love of God in the midst of the most horrible of situations.

Jesus Himself did not cry out over the pain of the nails in His hands and feet, nor in the shame of His naked and humiliating public crucifixion.  His cry of despair was over the departure of God from His presence, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?"

One man wrote, "Joy is not the absence of pain, but the presence of God."