Bill Has to Work. Invisible, Infinite, Perfect Love.

 Here’s what I hate: 

Bill has to work on Valentine’s Day.  But, that’s okay because we will celebrate another night.  Plus, the girls and I are going to take dinner to the hospital and eat with him if he’s able to get away for a few minutes.  Why would we go see him at work?  Well, because we love him.  I am still in love with my husband of 13 years.  In fact, I feel like I love him more each day.  And his love for me is a gift that I am constantly amazed to unwrap.

However, I have a different kind of love to write about today.

Here’s what I love: invisible, infinite, perfect love.

For the last several weeks, God has been teaching me more about His love.  I knew I was supposed to write about it.  But, sometimes, writing about these deep matters of the heart is like talking about kissing.  Words are insufficient to describe the experience.

There is a JJ Heller song that best expresses a relationship I’ve had since a child. 

If my arms could reach around you
I would never move
If my eyes could see you
I'd have no faith to prove
The wonder of invisible love

This is how it has to be
With you and me
The wonder of invisible love

When I fall I feel your arms
Before I reach the ground
Lord, I know your whisper
Though I've never heard the sound
The wonder of invisible love

This is how it has to be
With you and me
The wonder of invisible...

Someday there will be no time to mind
I will be your long awaited bride
We will dance away the night

This is how it has to be
With you and me
The wonder of invisible love
Is how it has to be
With you and me
The wonder of invisible love

I sometimes wonder what my non-Christian friends think of my claims to “walk” and “talk” with God.  Do they think I am delusional?  Do they equate my belief in God with belief in Santa or the Tooth Fairy?  (Just to be clear, I know that neither of those exist.)  But, seriously, I go around talking about an on-going relationship with a completely invisible Being.  Fortunately, I am in good company—centuries of Christians have had the same experience I have. 

While God Himself remains invisible, His power is not.  There are signs of Him everywhere.  Even if you decide that all of nature is not His unique creation, there are countless, miraculous personal stories from people all over the globe who have experienced God. 

It’s true.

But no amount of proof will make you see Jesus. 

The best way to be introduced to Him is to read eye-witness accounts of His time here on earth.  After all, there were 12 men who walked and talked with God’s son in the flesh on a daily basis.  Their experiences have been written down.  Yes, I know you can meet Jesus in the pages of the Bible.  I’ve seen it happen.

And when the eyes of your heart are open, a crazy, yet very real thing will happen.  Much like falling in love, you will turn to mush at the realization of God’s love for you. 

Even now, my eyes well up with tears of amazement and gratitude as I contemplate His love—His perfect love.

God’s love is not like human love.  I’ve known that for a long time, and yet, this week I am learning it anew. 

That’s the beautiful thing about knowing God—there is always more to Him.  He is powerful and mysterious and He reveals Himself to us, but there is always more. 

C.S. Lewis describes knowing God and growing in relationship with Him in his book The Last Battle (one of the Chronicles of Narnia).  At the end of the book, the characters end up in a new world—but it reminds them of Narnia.   But, this new world is infinitely better than the old Narnia.  In fact, they say that the reason they “loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.”  The great thing about the new world is that everyone keeps saying: “come further up, come further in!”  So, they do.  They run and run and run without getting tired and they see beautiful, amazing things, but when they look ahead, there is always more. 

Lewis says in the last paragraph of the book that it’s a “story which goes on forever in which every chapter is greater than the one before.”

So, this week, I am realizing that I am living the greatest love story.  A story of being rescued, changed, strengthened, protected, and invited--invited to come further up and further in. 

It is essential to human nature to love and seek love.  Therefore, the entire purpose of our life with God is learning to believe His perfect and infinite love so that all of our heart’s longings are satisfied.

It’s a love story that has no end.