Knowing God's Love

Ephesians 3:17b-19

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

My daughter will be a sophomore in high school this fall and has been busy lately with a required summer reading list. One of the books she must read is called What Smart Students Know. I found that title intriguing. While other study guides tell you what to DO, this book starts with what you need to KNOW. The presumption is that knowledge is the basis for all action.

It made me think about knowing compared to doing in our walk with Christ. We are eager to serve the Lord and lead others, but first we need to know God. So what do we need to know? For starters, we need to know God’s love.

God’s love is intimate and personal. In love, God created the world, and in love, God created you. God designed and formed you with and through His love. In love, He made you wonderfully. He knitted you together with great intent and boundless love. Because of His love, God knows every thought that is on your mind and every desire that is in your heart. In love, He sent His son to die for you. You were on His mind when He made that plan and carried it through. He did it for you because His love is faithful and trustworthy. God’s love never fails.

There is a certain irony here, though: we are told to know God’s love, but we are also told it is so wide, long, deep, and high that we cannot grasp it! It is infinite – there are not tools to measure it and there are hardly words to describe it. God’s love is so unique, it surpasses our ability to understand it. So how can we know it?

I looked up the word know in the dictionary and found the definition “to perceive with certainty, to establish in the mind, to recognize and distinguish from other things.” I asked myself if I could apply this definition to my knowledge of God. Sure, I have memorized plenty of facts about God, but do I perceive Him with certainty in the circumstances of my life? Is He established on my mind and in my heart? Do I recognize Him despite the situations I encounter, and can I distinguish Him when I am in the midst of trouble?

My life would be different if I focused on grasping the extent of God’s love rather than the extent of my problems. I want to know God’s love, not just as a fact in my brain, but as a basis for all my attitudes and actions. His love is everlasting and beyond comprehension and that’s exactly what I need. We don’t have to have all the answers, we just have to know and trust that He does. And we just need to remember that He always, always loves.

Lord God, You know us and You love us. We thank You for calling us to know You. Through Your word, through prayer, and through fellowship and worship, we come to know You. Lord, reveal Yourself to us and show us Your love so that we know it, recognize it, and never forget it. Thank You that Your love is so amazing that it is beyond our understanding. Let Your love be the very foundation of who we are and the basis for all we do. In Jesus’ name we pray…AMEN.

Experiencing Trouble

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Last Saturday, I ran The Melon Dash 5K in downtown McKinney. The race is held every year in August, and every year the hot weather is tortuous.

Somewhere around the first mile marker, I came up to a man running with his young daughter. The girl looked like she was around seven years old and was putting forth a great effort, but she did not look happy. I wondered if she had been eager before the race began – enthusiastic to go on this journey with her dad – or if instead she had been dragged into it by her father. Regardless, she looked discouraged. I ran alongside of them, smiled, and said (exact quote): “It’s always hard, but in the end you will be glad you did it.” As soon as I said it, I regretted my words. Always hard? What kind of encouragement was that? I had just told a new runner that participating in a 5K would ALWAYS be a problem.

Later, I started to think that however blunt and awkward my words were, maybe they actually were true. After all, if you are a competitive runner, shouldn’t a 5K always be hard? If it’s not hard, aren’t you doing something wrong? And even if you are a little child who isn’t running competitively, isn’t three miles a long way to go?

I thought about what Jesus said to His disciples the night before He died: In this world you will have trouble. Jesus was speaking of something far more serious and enduring than a 5K though. He was speaking of what we would face in a life lived for Him. He gave a certain warning that trouble and difficulty would arise.

But immediately, Jesus followed it with encouragement. He told the disciples and likewise us to take courage, be confident, be certain, and be undaunted. Jesus promised that He has overcome the world; His words, according to the original language translation, literally mean that He has deprived the world of power to harm us.

What do these words mean for us in the midst of our troubles? The very One who overcame death on the cross is able and willing to see you through your problems, no matter how big, enduring, or complicated they are. No matter what you face, He can and will provide peace in Him. You are safe with Him. You are safe ONLY in Him. He has overcome the world. Let’s go to Him now.

Dear Jesus, the problems in my life are not going away and sometimes I see no way out of them. Please help me with what I am facing today. Lord, You said that You give us Your word so that we may have peace. Please fill me to overflowing with Your peace. Remind me that You have overcome the world and that the problems I face are not new to You. Nothing is bigger than You. In your strong name I pray…AMEN.