Nothing Can Separate Us

Posted on February 21, 2023  •  5 minutes  • 913 words

"Mistakes, challenges, and failings will not separate you from the God who loves you no matter what."

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NRSV, Romans 8:38-39)

  For many Christians, this is the crux of the Gospel message. It’s the heart of it all, the reminder that no matter what we do or think, God still loves us. It’s heady and heavy at the same time. Both freeing and restraining. Encouraging but daunting.

  For mothers, I like to think of it as a soft place. Motherhood can feel like a storm of emotions. My transition to motherhood was hard - delivering my first baby was traumatizing in a way that I couldn’t fully process (even though I did try) until I delivered my second almost two years later. Then, the lack of sleep, hormonal shifts, my own anxiety, and the sense of loss of identity meant I felt lost and confused for a long time.

  With time and experience, I feel much more confident as a mother, and I am able to accept the fact that times will come when I feel like I don’t know anything and I’m completely unprepared. There are still hard times - raising children is, as they say, all the things - joyful, painful, fearful, anticipatory, overwhelming, thrilling, mundane, and so much more. I have made many mistakes even in the short time I’ve been a mother, and I’m sure I will continue to make them despite my best efforts.

  This passage from Romans reminds us that, no matter our choices as mothers, which are as varied and diverse as mothers themselves, there is nothing we can do that will separate us from God. Just like all other parts of our identities - our identities, our backgrounds, our careers, our educations - all the parts of us that make us who we are, there isn’t anything we can say, think, or do, that God will not love us through. There is no choice we can make, no path we can take, where God does not meet us, where God does not walk with us, where God does not hold us and say, “Okay, let’s try again. I believe you can do this.”

Always Means Always

If you are a mother who experiences anger, frustration, grief, loneliness, who feels she has failed her children in any capacity - God’s love is for you. God’s love is with you. Even your own heart, soul, mistakes, challenges, and failings will not separate you from the God who loves you no matter what.

Nothing Can Separate Us

  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

  For many Christians, this is the crux of the Gospel message. It’s the heart of it all, the reminder that no matter what we do or think, God still loves us. It’s heady and heavy at the same time. Both freeing and restraining. Encouraging but daunting.

  For mothers, I like to think of it as a soft place. Motherhood can feel like a storm of emotions. My transition to motherhood was hard - delivering my first baby was traumatizing in a way that I couldn’t fully process (even though I did try) until I delivered my second almost two years later. Then, the lack of sleep, hormonal shifts, my own anxiety, and the sense of loss of identity meant I felt lost and confused for a long time.

  With time and experience, I feel much more confident as a mother, and I am able to accept the fact that times will come when I feel like I don’t know anything and I’m completely unprepared. There are still hard times - raising children is, as they say, all the things - joyful, painful, fearful, anticipatory, overwhelming, thrilling, mundane, and so much more. I have made many mistakes even in the short time I’ve been a mother, and I’m sure I will continue to make them despite my best efforts.

  This passage from Romans reminds us that, no matter our choices as mothers, which are as varied and diverse as mothers themselves, there is nothing we can do that will separate us from God. Just like all other parts of our identities - our identities, our backgrounds, our careers, our educations - all the parts of us that make us who we are, there isn’t anything we can say, think, or do, that God will not love us through. There is no choice we can make, no path we can take, where God does not meet us, where God does not walk with us, where God does not hold us and say, “Okay, let’s try again. I believe you can do this.”

  If you are a mother who experiences anger, frustration, grief, loneliness, who feels she has failed her children in any capacity - God’s love is for you. God’s love is with you. Even your own heart, soul, mistakes, challenges, and failings will not separate you from the God who loves you no matter what.