More Than Conquerors
Held in the Chaos: When God’s Love Is the Only Certainty
There are very few things I’m completely certain of anymore. The older I get, the more that list seems to shrink. Maybe you feel the same. The certainties that once felt so black and white now have soft grey edges. Questions I thought I had answered in my twenties show up again in my forties, but this time with more nuance, more humility, and—oddly enough—more peace.
As Bono sings in City of Blinding Lights:
“The more you see, the less you know,
The less you find out as you go…
I knew much more then than I do now.”
Certainty, it turns out, doesn’t always help us when life gets messy. And life does get messy. Plans fail. People leave. The world feels shakier than it used to. Maybe it always was. Maybe we’re just paying closer attention now.
But in the middle of the mess, what if the thing we need most isn’t certainty—but faith?
Faith That Stands in the Storm
Not the kind of faith that ignores pain, but the kind that recognizes God is present in it. A faith that holds up when everything else crumbles. A faith that doesn’t require all the answers, but knows—knows—we’re not alone.
This is the kind of faith Paul speaks to in the final verses of Romans 8. These are words many of us have heard in hospital rooms, at funerals, or during the darkest nights of our souls. And for good reason: they are some of the most powerful, comforting words ever written.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NIV)
This verse has often been misunderstood. Some take it to mean everything that happens is good, or that everything happens for a reason. But that’s not what Paul is saying.
Not everything is good. Cancer isn’t good. Divorce isn’t good. But God is so good, so powerful, so loving—that He can work even in those things. He doesn’t cause the chaos, but He works within it.
Think of a master chef who takes bitter herbs and strange spices, and somehow creates a dish that is nourishing and beautiful. That’s what God does with the mess of our lives.
And Paul doesn’t say “we feel that God is working,” or “we hope He might be.” He says: we know. This is a deep, Spirit-shaped conviction—not a fragile optimism.
When the Story Doesn’t Go the Way You Wrote It
There are parts of my story I would never have chosen. Losing my dad at 13? That page wouldn’t have made it into my version of the script. And yet—God has met me in that grief in ways I couldn’t have imagined. It didn’t have to happen for me to become who I am, but God used it to shape compassion in me. To allow me to sit with others in their pain. To understand the weight of sorrow and the unexpectedness of joy.
God didn’t write that tragedy. But He has never stopped writing beauty into the aftermath.
“In all things God works…”
That’s the promise.
More Than Conquerors—Because We’re Held
And just when we think Paul has already said the most beautiful thing, he says this:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
(Romans 8:35, 37)
More than conquerors. Not by our strength or spiritual resume—but because of His love. A love that held us at the cross and holds us still. A love that isn’t shaken by our doubt, or diminished by our suffering.
Paul goes on to say:
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future… nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 8:38–39)
If you’re reading this while you’re in a storm, or walking through a fog, or barely hanging on—please hear this:
You are held.
Not just by a comforting idea, but by a Person. Jesus Christ—crucified, risen, reigning—is holding you. Right now. Not because you’ve got it all together. But because He loves you.
Start With Love
I read a line recently that’s been lingering in my soul. Shannon K. Evans writes in her book The Mystics Would Like a Word:
“I am placing my bets on the side of love.”
Me too.
Not because it’s easy. Not because it explains away all the suffering or ties everything up in a bow. But because Scripture tells us this is who God is.
“God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
And love is what shows up in the dark. Love is what holds when we can’t hold on anymore. Love is what makes us more like Jesus—often through the very things we thought would break us.
A Challenge: Bet on Love
So here’s the invitation:
Place your bet on love.
Even when it’s hard. Even when nothing makes sense. Even when the prayers are unanswered and the grief is fresh and the night feels endless.
Trust that God is working in all things. That He is not absent from your suffering, but present in it. That He is shaping you—not in spite of your pain, but sometimes through it.
And trust this most of all: nothing can separate you from His love.
Absolutely nothing.
So the next time life shakes, and you’re unsure of what you believe or where to stand—stand here:
“For I am convinced that… nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)
Reflection Questions:
- Where in your life do you feel uncertainty or pain right now?
- How might God be working in that space, even if He didn’t cause it?
- What would it look like for you to “place your bet on love” today?