I've got the power!
And 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. | Ephesians 3:18 (NLT)
As I read this, I am challenged by the idea of the all-encompassing nature of God’s love; it engulfs and consumes me, it lives in me. It is unconditional and not linked to a feel-good moment or my behaviour. There is no escaping God’s love, and yet, I try to escape. I feel vulnerable and exposed when accepting that God could and does love me in this way. He knows everything I think, or mutter under my breath, or utter in despair and yet His love graciously overwhelms me.
I imagine this is how Adam and Eve felt after they disobeyed God; His loved seemed too big to be in the presence of, so they did what we all would like to do when we can’t face a situation; they hid. But they couldn’t really hide from God, and neither can I.
And God doesn’t want me to hide from His love. He has a plan to ‘settle’ me into that love, to be able to claim it and cling to it, to wrap myself in it, to hide under it, to be vulnerable.
It’s obvious really if I read the verses prior to 18 in Ephesians 3:
12 'Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.’ And Paul prays; ‘…16 that from his [God's] glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.’
Through Jesus’ death and resurrection and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, I am provided with everything I need to revel in God’s love, to allow it to set me free, to redeem me, to console me, to protect me, to encourage me, to give me courage and keep me humble.
I do have the power to understand the enormity of God’s love, because I understand it’s God’s power in me, it’s the same power that raised Jesus from the dead!