Romans 8:31-39

³¹ What then should we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² Without a doubt, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all these things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who will disconnect us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it says in scripture, “For your sake we meet death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, even with all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! ³⁸ Because I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to disconnect us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

already glorified

From God’s standpoint, we are already in eternity with him. He foreknew everything about us – not just the fact that we would say yes to the gospel. He foreknew our eternal lives in his permanent kingdom. For him, our future is our present. So our confidence is not that we will endure and overcome our present sufferings. Our confidence is that for God we already have. He has already glorified us.

So, what if we are persecuted for our faith? It can happen, but it will make no eternal difference. What if we undergo trouble and distress, go hungry or naked? No eternal difference. God already sees us, not as we are now, but as we will be. Our hope and destiny is set. Nothing we experience in this life is going to change it.

LORD, thank you that nothing can disconnect us from you, or from our destiny which you already know.