How Great is God's Love

“How great is God’s love for all who worship him? Greater than the distance between heaven and earth!” Psalm 103:11

It is almost impossible to conceive of the love which God has for us. This single verse describes it as greater than the distance between heaven and earth. That is not to say, “as high as the atmosphere”, but “greater than all the universe which surrounds the earth.” In other words, limitless!

It is easy to go through our daily life, waking groggily, eating a bagel for breakfast, going to work, meeting friends, caring for our kids, all in an atmosphere that gives little conscious thought to God’s love. I do not mean we ignore it, we simply don’t add it into our calculation of daily living. I am fairly sure that life would be vastly different if we did.

I think knowledge of the depth of God’s love is the most healing perspective possible. It is like breathing oxygen-rich air after struggling backpacking in high mountain elevations. It is like absorbing the pristine beauty, the glistening of lake waters following days of torrential rain.

We stumble mostly to the extent that we are uncertain life is going to work out for good. In the most normal sinner, it is not a desire for evil or wicked longings that causes us to stumble. We feel the normal longings for that which only God Himself can supply, but, having dipped into the world’s false offerings of hope and satisfaction, we habitually forget there is something better.

Actually, I think the love of God is not simply something “better” than the fake fulfillment, the fatal attraction of this world. It is not better, is something entirely different. It is not a homemade cupcake versus a store-bought brand. God’s love is beyond the ability to describe. It is above comparison to anything we know.

The finest examples of love fall so far short of God’s best, that we barely want to consider them. The best parent, the most faithful spouse, the friend that risks himself for the love of his brother, all inspire us to a better life and call us to a higher call. But still they fall short. This is God who is infinitely above those he loves. He is eternally good and holy, while we, the objects of His love are filled with self and make choices based on personal preference and pleasure moer often than not.

Yet He loves us. Yes, the verse says He loves those who “worship” Him. We cannot ignore the fact that God’s favor rests in greater degree of perception upon those who are moved by His greatness. But we know from so many over passages, and the example of Christ, that His love is certainly not reserved for those who worship or fear Him. Like a satellite that can pick out a tiny bird in the brush, worship is a High Definition lens enabling us to zoom in on the greatness of God and His love.

How great is God’s love? How great is His creation? I fail Him, I disappoint myself, I cause friends to question my intentions when I make selfish decisions. But when I truly stop to consider the full extent of His love, I stop my stumbling efforts at perfection and actually begin to be transformed. His love which calls me to worship, also calls me to humble restoration in the presence of pure acceptance.