Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in heaven or on earth…. A lover flies, runs, rejoices…. Love often knows no limits but is fervent beyond measure. Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of labors, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility…. Though wearied, it is not tired; though pressed, it is not straitened; though alarmed, it is not confounded; but as a lively flame and burning torch, it forces its way upwards and passes securely through all.
~Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471)
But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in My eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by My Name; whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made.”
~ from Isaiah 43
Oh beloved, it is true. There are things we will not ever understand completely. For, even though we are to participate in the Divinity of G_d, there are depths of who He is wherein participation shall not mean full comprehension. For, though our lives will have no end, they indeed had a beginning. We are rays of light. He is the infinite Light that shines.
No beginning. No end. Always. Oh worship Him!
There is a word in the original languages of the first 39 books of the Bible: Chesed (very hard ‘H’, instead of “CH” like in cheese).
And it is in this one word (appearing some 250 times in the Word) that all that is different about Him exists. It is a word so deep and complex in meaning, that none of the 2.2 million words in the English language can fully describe it. But the idea is torrential. It is a tsunami of meaning that destroys any of our concepts of what He is like. Chesed is generally translated into English as: Steadfast Love.
And still, any word or set of words falls pitifully short. Try this on for size though: The Chesed of G_d is His unchanging Great Heart. It is the infinite ocean of His immutable and profound concern for our wellbeing. It is the genuine and eternal affection of an entirely wise and completely trustworthy Being. It is the form of Trinity. It is the framework of eternity. It is the superstructure of all reality. It is Who He Is – and it is this same Him moving toward us. G_d is Love, and in Him there is no variation, nor any shadow of turning. And while this is impossible for us to conceive, in our flippant and fickle ways, it is more true that gravity and stars and any other thing we can currently measure about the creation about us.
Jaw-dropping.
And all of this is simply because He has chosen to Love us. It had nothing to do with our response. Nothing. And, if anything, this only makes the blinding purity of this Love more than infinitely pure and powerful. The Chesed of G_d is utterly arbitrary and autocratic on His part.
We can’t buy It.
We can’t contain It.
We can’t lose It.
We can’t tame It.
We can’t taint It.
We can’t improve It.
We can only receive It.
Oh, once we know It, we can give it back to Him (that is, after we can finally breath and begin to have some sort of semblance of thinking return to our newfound undoneness). And He can most surely enjoy it. However, it is specifically because He does not need our love, that He can enjoy it – and pour more of His Great Love back in our direction. And somewhere in this torrent, something becomes apparent. Something we had never, ever, ever, ever expected.
We do Love Him. Truly. Passionately. We are in Love. But it is even deeper than this.
Can we see it? G_d Loving us is not some sort of dispassionate charity. It is not merely the calm Love of a very Good Father. It is Love of the most torrential sort. It is the kind of Love that simply likes being with you – and has no desire to ever leave you. Beloved. Really. Can we see it? The G_d of the universe is our best Friend, and we can be His (Yes, of course an infinite G_d can have many best friends).
Oh my.
Yeah. This changes everything.
Never afraid.
Never in want.
Never needing.
Never doubting.
Never in bondage.
Never confused.
Never alone.
Ever.
Beloved. You have a Friend who commands the hosts of heaven to protect you, calls forth goods from the storehouses of Heaven to provide for you, and poured out His very own blood to save you. To know this is to know, finally and truly know, that all is well. And in knowing the position we are in, we begin to move in a joy and strength we had never known possible.
So, are you feeling alone? Tonight is your night. Let Him Love you. He already has, and always will. It is simply for you to change your mind and jump into the torrential joy and strength of a friendship that will never end.
Jump beloved. Just jump.
