Today’s Verse
“If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Romans 8:31 (WEB)
When Circumstances Say Otherwise
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” It’s supposed to be encouraging. A rallying cry. A declaration of confidence. But what happens when it doesn’t feel true? When life circumstances make it seem like God Himself is against you?
The job you prayed for goes to someone else. The relationship you thought God was blessing falls apart. The healing you begged for doesn’t come. The door you were certain He’d open slams shut. And you’re left wondering: if God is supposedly for me, why does it feel like He’s working against everything I’m hoping for?
This is where Romans 8:31 gets hard. Because Paul wrote this in the context of real suffering. Just a few verses later, he lists what believers were facing at the time: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword. He’s not writing from a place of ease, claiming God is for us when everything is going well. He’s declaring it in the middle of circumstances that feel oppositional.
God being “for us” doesn’t mean every circumstance works in our favor. It means He’s for our ultimate good, our salvation, our transformation, our eternal relationship with Him. Sometimes that involves closed doors we wanted open. Unanswered prayers we were certain were His will. Suffering that refines us in ways comfort never could.
I don’t always understand it. I don’t always like it. But I’m learning to trust that God being “for me” doesn’t mean giving me everything I ask for. It means He’s committed to my ultimate good, even when that conflicts with my immediate wants.
Today’s Prayer
Lord, if You are for us, who can be against us – a rhetorical question with only one answer: no one, nothing, no force in all creation.
If You are for us isn’t hypothetical but fact, that the God of the universe has chosen to be for me, allied with me, supporting me, fighting on my behalf.
Teach me that opposition doesn’t disappear because You’re for me, but that it becomes irrelevant in terms of ultimate outcome, that what stands against me cannot prevail when You stand with me.
Who can be against us isn’t denying that enemies exist but declaring their powerlessness compared to Your power, that whatever opposes me is outmatched by the God who supports me.
Help me face opposition with confidence, knowing that no enemy, circumstance, or force is stronger than the God who is for me, that victory is certain when You’re on my side.
Remind me that You being for me isn’t based on my worthiness but on Your choice, Your grace, Your love that decided to align with me despite everything.
Give me courage that comes from divine alliance, boldness that flows from knowing the strongest force is for me, peace that rests on the truth that nothing against me can succeed.
Let me live today with the confidence that if God is for us, who can be against us, facing everything boldly because the Almighty is on my side.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Art print
If this devotional has spoken to you, the full 8 × 10″ art print is available to bring into your home. It’s printed on quality art paper, unframed and ready to place wherever you need a quiet reminder that God is for you. You can find it in my shop, with free shipping included.