Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
–Romans 8:35-37
I remember it like it was yesterday. In 1970, I was preaching a revival meeting at a small church in Crowell, Texas. I was a student at Hardin-Simmons and Deb and I had been married for just two months. I received a call on Tuesday morning from my brother who uttered the words I’d never forget, “Jack, Dad’s been hurt.”
A shoplifter had come into the hardware store that dad ran and hit him in the head with a hammer. So Deb came from Hardin-Simmons and picked me up in Crowell. After that, we drove as fast as we could to Harris Hospital in Fort Worth.
My dad had been critically injured and was in brain surgery. He lingered for ten days before he passed away from his injuries. I couldn’t understand it.
But on the day he died, I went into the little prayer chapel at the hospital, got down on my knees, and wept for my father. I asked God for his peace and his comfort. And I can tell you that the peace of God that passes all understanding flooded my soul as never before.
Friends, I know Jesus is real because I have experienced his presence. And though my father indeed went on to be with the Lord, there was a lasting peace in me that only a believer can experience.
GOD’S PEACE SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING AND WILL GET YOU THROUGH THE DARKEST TIMES IN YOUR LIFE.
