Early in ministry I wanted a position at my church. I knew the big wigs were going to be talking about it, so I made myself available. I put myself where the conversations were. Looking back, I was wildly insecure. I was not gathering information. I was checking whether I had already been disqualified.

Romans 8:35 asks what could separate us from the love of Christ, then lists seven things Paul had actually lived through. Every one of them is something that happened to him, not a sin he committed, and he never promises you an exemption. You already know the top line on your own list. Paul does not argue the items are small. He asks whether any of them can do the one thing they would have to do in order to matter: separate you.

Anchored in Romans 8:35. Part of a verse-by-verse season through the interior-life chapter of the New Testament.