THE LOVE OF GOD

More than anything, my mom wanted my brother and me to know how much we were loved. She would hug us and tell us all the time how much she loved us. Every text and email ended with hearts and “LYVVVVM!” I know her prayers were infused with this plea:  that her children would know how loved we are. When she died in October, the one who loved me longest simply vanished. The grief has been profound. A gaping hole was left in my life that I hadn’t known she filled.

But a remarkable thing has happened! In the flowing tears and in the anguish of loss, God has not only been comforting and bringing peace to my heart; He has been showing me in breathtaking new ways how deeply, how fully, He loves us. He’s pulling back the veil that’s been over my eyes, shrouding my life in a lack of understanding His profound love. His love is so, so deep! 

One of my favorite things to share in a sympathy card is these words of a hymn:

Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus—
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free—
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of His love—
Leading onward, leading homeward
To His glorious rest above.

But I don’t know if I ever really got it. It was more like wistful thoughts along the lines of, “That would be nice if He did love us that much.” But the more I study His word to us, all the things He wants to communicate to us, His love is right there!

He describes Himself as, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with UNFAILING LOVE and faithfulness. I LAVISH unfailing love to a thousand generations…” (Ex. 34:6-7a)

The psalmist describes Him, “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and ABOUNDING IN LOVING DEVOTION.” (Ps. 145:8)

We are encouraged to, “Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his STEADFAST LOVE endures forever!” (Ps. 106:1)

“The LOVE of God has been POURED OUT within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us”, indwelling us and giving us hope. (Rom 5:5)

In fact, John was not exaggerating when he wrote the simple sentence, “God is love.” (1 Jn. 4:16) He cannot do anything other than love us because that is His nature; He can’t act in opposition to His essence. I don’t know about you, but I’ve needed to understand this my whole life. It’s strange that it took the death of my mom, the one who prayed fervently that we would know we are loved, for her prayer to be answered.

I’ll close with one verse to a hymn that speaks eloquently of God’s unfathomable love, “The Love of God”:

Could we with ink the ocean fill
and were the skies of parchment made,
were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill
and ev’ry man a scribe by trade,
to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry;
nor could the scroll contain the whole,
tho' stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure:
the saints’ and angels’ song!

May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Eph. 3:18-19)