Love Beyond Comprehension
by Dr. Randall Worley (Transformational Thinking)
For centuries man has explored the vast expanse of space as well as the depths of the ocean. What is the source of their insatiable curiosity to measure the immeasurable? To know the unknown and the unquantifiable is the depth of the human spirit reaching for God. Paul says it this way.
"May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how high, and how deep His love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fulness of life and power that comes from God." (Eph.3:18-19 New Living Translation)
The deepest point in the ocean or on the earth for that matter is the Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific. It is 1,554 miles long, 44 miles wide, and plunges to 35,797 feet. That is almost 7 miles deep. The development of sonar was a technology that enabled scientist to accurately measure the depths of the ocean. Long before this a more primitive method was used. Explorers carrried with them as much rope as possible to various locations and cast them over board to plumb the ocean floor. When the rope ran out and the bottom was still unknown an entry was made in their log-book that read "and deeper still."
The splendor of creation resonates with something deep within all of us that no matter what we may have experienced in our past there must be something more. This must be what the psalmist meant when he said "Deep calls unto deep." One of the most important principles of interpreting the scriptures is found in Romans 1:20 "The invisible things him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." This passage simply stated means that all of creation, the mountains, the seas, the clouds, and so on reflect His nature.
The inescapable consciousness of our depravity and our shallow understanding of God's love has created limits where they do not exist. When you think He has had enough and is disgusted with you, remember His love is "deeper still."
Jesus said that if we "Have faith in God...We could say to a mountain. Be removed and cast into the sea." (paraphrase Mark 11:23) The Mariana Trench is the deepest place on earth and Mt. Everest is the highest place on earth. Mt. Everest is 29,029 feet. So if the tallest mountain on earth was cast into the Mariana Trench it would be swallowed up and still be submerged thousands of feet deep. A mountain is often used as a metaphor to describe something that overshadows you to the point you feel you could never get over it. Mountains of grief, guilt, and shame cover the landscape of our lives reminding us of how insurmountable they seem to be. But if our faith is in God and in His limitless love the shadows that are cast by these ominous feelings are drowned in the depths of the sea. Peter, a disciple that was painfully aware his failures understood this when he penned "Love covers a multitude of sins." (IPeter 4:8)
by Letenefly
July 5th, 2010 (09:07)