July 21

More than we can Ask or Imagine

          For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.  I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

           As Paul is closing his letter to the believers in Ephesus, he has one thing that he wants to convey to them.  It is not a complicated idea; in fact it could have been summed up in three words with just eight letters between them: God is big.  He is big.  He is powerful.  His love is immense and prodigal and audacious.  He can speak a universe into being and create a world that is filled with sights and sounds and smells that are beyond counting.  His power is overwhelming…and yet at the very same time, His love for you and for me and for our children is even bigger.

            “How I wish that you could understand,” Paul writes, “how broad and long and high and deep is God’s love for you.”  His love could not be contained by the oceans.  The sky could not hold it all.  God does not simply tolerate you.  He does keep you around because He finds you amusing or because He is curious to see what kind of mischief you get into next.  The God of the Universe loves you with a passion and a zeal and a tenderness that would bring a tear to your eye if you were to feel it.  He roars with laughter when blessings are flowing and life is good.  He sobs with pain when you are hurt and ignored and doubt whether you are worth anything.  If first love between two people is described as being a “spark,” His love is a full-fledged lightning storm.  That kind of passion, that kind of love is terrifying for us and we often keep it at arm’s length so that we will not be consumed, but that is the love that God has for His children.

            God’s love is big, but so are His works.  Paul says that God is able to do much, much more than we can ask or imagine.  There are many Christians who like to pray with the word “just,” flowing from their lips…something like this:

“God.  We just want to take this time to say thank you, God.  We just want to ask, God, that you might just take away the pain in his back, God.  If it be your will, God, will you just take the pain away.  God, we just want to say that we love you, God. Amen.”

This is not to mock that style of prayer, but to examine it.  Praying this way sounds apologetic.  When someone tells you that they just want something, usually that means it is a small request and they are sorry to be intruding on your time, but if you could just do this one thing then they will be on their way and not take up any more of your valuable time.

            God is big.  His love for us is big.  He gives big.  Paul says that He is eager to give more than we can ask or imagine.  Christians are not guilty of bothering God and asking for too much…often we are guilty of not asking for enough.  We settle for God not being angry at us while He offers unconditional love.  We settle for a job while He offers a calling.  We settle for surviving while He offers thriving.  We don’t ask for too much; we ask for too little and God is poised on the edge of His seat, ready to pour unbelievable blessings on us if we would ask.

            God is big.  Bigger than even our imaginations can grasp.

A moment to reflect:

What could you ask God for?  Where are the limits of your imagination over what He could give to you?