Answers in the Questions: Lectio Divina Out Loud

With everything around us working to separate us from God, Erika Dix finds the answer in the question. 

What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? (Romans 8:35) 

I love hearing God’s voice. I am grateful that it is not the booming voice of thunder or bolts of lightning. It is in the quiet whisperings in our lives. It is in the smiles and actions of others. Most of all it is in His Word. There has been a lot going on in the past few months, as I am sure it is the same for many families with school age children, and I have been pulled away from my prayer time. It has at times even felt like a separation. With so many things pulling me in different directions, there was little to no space for Christ’s love.   

When I found this verse, I was actually looking for a different verse in Romans at the time. As I kept reading, I heard God’s voice speak to my aching soul. He truly does want us to have Christ’s love, and in my head, heart and soul I felt the boom, crash of thunder and lightning.   

As I continued to search this verse for what God was saying, I created a modern day translation for what it may feel like to us to help us answer the question of what separates us from Christ’s love.  

Anguish = Missing out 
Distress = Not knowing what is happening 
Persecution = Comparing  
Famine = Not enough 
Nakedness = Vulnerability 
Peril = Feeling out of control 
Sword = Everyone around us is against us  

And what is the answer to these questions posed in the centuries old letter to the Romans? That will be unique to each of us in whatever season of life we are in, but we can always start with LOVE. Especially Christ’s love. God gave us the answer to the question, in the question! In Romans 8:32, we have another question with the answer in it:

He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?

God gave us Jesus to answer all our questions, and also gave us Christ’s love to counteract all the things of this world that will separate us from Him.  

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God gave us Jesus to answer all our questions, and also gave us Christ’s love to counteract all the things of this world that will separate us from Him. #CatholicMom

With these answers in mind, we can be grounded in Love, react with Love, connect with others in Love. We feel it in our souls when we are separated from Christ’s love, so turning to Him will reestablish that connection again.  

The verse I was originally looking at brings this all back to Love and why God gave us all of this:

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28).

It is a popular verse, and one I have heard many times before. That is why I try to read beyond the verse in order to catch a whisper of God's voice.    

Prayer: Generous and loving God, you give us so much, and I thank you for giving us Christ’s Love to keep us connected to You. 

Copyright 2023 Erika Dix
Images: Canva