Romans 8 may just be one of my favorites!

I am exactly halfway through reading Romans for the second time this Lent. Chapter 8 contains so many inspiring passages that it is shaping up to be one of my favorite chapters! 

Romans 8:18

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. 

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When I read this, I feel reassured that all will be worth it. All will work out in the end and today's sufferings will pale in comparison to the joy of tomorrow. 

Romans 8:24-25

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.--------------------------------------There is that word again: endurance. To me, that word alone implies effort and waiting with active effort. To endure means you are actively working toward something in spite of drastic opposition. This requires effort and making the choice to actively strive to go against whatever might be trying to hold you back or keep you down...if we actively hope, we can endure anything. 
Romans 8:28
We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.----------------------------------------I used to always say that everything happens for a reason. Then my friend, Sheryl, encouraged me to say for the good of the Lord after that expression. She referred to this passage when she did. Now I recognize there is a deeper purpose to things happening as God is the ultimate storyteller. 
Romans 8:31
If God is for us, who can be against us?------------------------Enough said here! 
Romans 8:35
What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?--------------------------This is another reassuring passage because it demonstrates the depth of Christ's mercy for us yet we sometimes get in the way by allowing our insecurities to prevent us from getting close to God or from receiving His graces. 
Romans 8:37-39
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.------------------------------------This was one of the readings from Dad's funeral mass that I read. I like to think that in spite of all that happened in his life, he was welcomed to Heaven with open arms for, as the passage says, nothing can separate us from the love of God. We have only to receive it! I pray that was the case for Dad and will be for me someday as I hopefully reunite with him in the presence of God.