How Romans Has Made It’s Mark On Me

~”For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)~

In this past year, Romans 8 has impacted my life in a way that could not be called coincidence. To think otherwise would be………..insane. It’d be utter refusal of something of obviously supernatural. Here is why I think so.

To begin with, my family and I have been studying this letter by the Apostle Paul for the last year, making it nearly 8 1/2 chapters through.

When I went to church camp back in the middle of the summer, during the week I was there we studied Romans 8. It just so happened that at this point, my family and I had been studying this book in the New Testament. We had no idea when we started studying Romans that it would be chosen as the lesson subject for my summer camp. But yet, this is still not the crazy part of what other people may call coincidence.

Recently my grandma on my dad’s side passed away from stage 6 Lewy Body dementia. On her obituary, my dad had put Romans 8:18 (the verse at the beginning of the post). That verse was very relatable to my grandma’s situation because even though she was gone, and her time with us was not what we would have had it to be, it reminded us of how her sufferings on Earth would be nothing like the glory she was experiencing above. Later, during the funeral service, the pastor that spoke during the service included several passages from Romans, not knowing what Dad had done with the obituary. Dad mentioned it to the pastor later, and they both agreed that this was no coincidence.

So, through this year the book of Romans has popped up in many unsuspecting ways. From being the church camp scripture topic to being severely involved in my grandma’s passing and funeral, God has used Paul’s letter to the Romans to impact me and my family’s lives in a way that is just what He would do.

In Romans, there was one verse from church camp that really stuck with me. It was a short verse but left me getting butterflies every time I thought of it. The verse that impacted me significantly was Romans 8:1-“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Then it made no sense why it stuck with me, but now, it makes all the sense in the world. It’s a reminder, along with Romans 8:18, that all who are in Christ Jesus are really in Him and are now under no condemnation. With this reminder I can know that my grandma was under no condemnation because she was in Christ Jesus, and she cannot see the past sufferings through the blinding glory that is all around her now.