Thursday, April 16, 2026

Bible in a Year: Job 7-8 | Matthew 6

There’s a quiet fear that many of us carry, even if we don’t say it out loud:

What if I mess this up?

What if I go too far this time?

What if God finally lets go of me?

We don’t always think of it consciously, but we live like it’s true.

We pull back when we’ve made mistakes. We grow distant when we feel ashamed. We hesitate to come close when we’ve been in a hard or messy season.

Sometimes it’s not a dramatic separation from God, but a small, quiet drift. The missed prayers. The days we don’t open our Bible. The moments we choose distraction over connection. Slowly, without realizing it, we begin to believe we’ve created distance that we now have to fix before coming back.

Scripture interrupts that fear with something firm, unshakable, and final:

Romans 8:38
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Nothing can separate you from God.

Not your worst decision. Not your doubt. Not the season where you felt numb, distant, or unsure. Not the version of you that you’re still trying to grow out of.

Not the prayers you didn’t pray. Not the habits you’re still trying to break. Not even the moments where you questioned if God was really there.

God’s love was never fragile. It doesn’t tighten when you fail, it doesn’t loosen when you wonder, and it definitely doesn’t disappear when your faith feels small. It holds.

Even now. Even here. Even in the places you think disqualify you.

Our tendency is to measure love by human standards where it can be withdrawn, earned back, or lost altogether. However, God’s love doesn’t function like that. It isn’t a reward for getting things right. It’s constant, anchored in who he is, not in how well we perform.

So when you feel distant from God, it’s not because he moved. When shame tells you to hide, it’s not his voice. His love is not something you can outrun or undo. It is something you can only accept or resist.

Maybe the invitation today isn’t to try harder or be better. Maybe it’s simply to come back and let yourself be loved again.

Questions:
Where in your life are you acting as if God’s love can be lost because of your mistakes, your current season, or your doubts?

Next Steps:
When you notice yourself pulling away from God this week, whether from shame, fear, or feeling “not good enough”, pause and intentionally turn toward him instead, reminding yourself that his love has not moved.

Prayer:
God, thank you for loving me with a love that doesn’t shift, weaken, or disappear. I confess that I often live as if your love depends on me and my choices, consistency, or my strength. However, your words remind me that nothing can separate me from you. Help me to believe that, especially in the moments I feel far away. Teach me to come to you instead of hiding from you. Let your love feel real and steady in my life this week. Amen.

Series Theme Verse:

Ephesians 1:5
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

This post was written by Heaven Nash, a Findlay attendee and a new contributor to the Daily LivingItOut devotional.