What gave Paul confidence? In other words, as the road got more rugged, what kept hope alive inside him?

Well, to begin with, he wasn’t someone who relied on fables or “hope-so” religion. He was trained at an early age to study the scriptures intensely and base conclusions on it. At conversion, he then began a journey of knowing Christ personally to go along with his vast knowledge of the sacred text. Ultimately, after years of ministry, and extreme circumstances, he wrote these words to articulate his personal, rock-solid conclusion regarding Christ’s faithfulness:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of Christ.” –Romans 8:38-39 NIV

Those words reveal a deep, abiding hope. Have you ever considered that absolutely, positively nothing can separate us from the love of Christ? Absolutely nothing. As disciples, we don’t earn God’s love, nor is it dependent on how we feel. He chooses to love us and there’s not one thing the enemy can do to change it, except try to convince us otherwise. Have you thanked Him for that today? Are you walking in the confidence of it?