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PROGRAM D-7320
If you’ve had a major disappointment in your life, you can relate to what our friend Fran is experiencing these days. For over a year Fran had been dating Barry, thinking that for sure God had brought him into her life to marry her, allow her to quit working and stay home with her two kids again, and be a father to her children. But it seems Barry was not ready to make that kind of commitment, and Fran realized it would be unwise to continue a close dating relationship, so she has severed those ties.
But what she is learning about herself through this has amazed even Fran. This morning, as she spends some quiet time with the Lord, she reads from Romans 8:
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.
“You know, Lord,” she says, “it seems like the Apostle Paul just couldn’t find enough words to adequately describe the love you have toward us. I am so grateful that you are a never-leaving God. And no matter what the future holds for me, nothing can separate us.”
The thought overwhelms Fran. It seems like almost for the first time, she becomes aware of the incredible reality that nothing—absolutely nothing—can ever separate her from Jesus. She’s known this truth for years, but now it touches her in a way it never has before.
“Lord, all I need is you,” Fran says. “All I really need is you. And I’ll never have to worry about whether you’ll be here or not. You are with me always, even to the end of the earth.”
Fran continues talking to Jesus. “If I never have another man in my life, I have so much to be thankful for. You gave me Jim for a few wonderful years, and I have those memories. And you are enough for me for the rest of my life, so you don’t have to give me another man, Lord. I’m willing to be a single mom the rest of my life if that’s what you want,” Fran affirms.
She has that wonderful peace of knowing that Jesus is pleased with her. And she realizes that with this attitude, she can’t lose, because whatever plan God has for her, it’s going to be okay.
“What a simple truth,” Fran says. “Why has it taken me so long to catch on?”