Grasping the Ungraspable
I had the privilege this week of meeting with an older friend whose garden overlooks Scorching Bay - one of the perks of being a pastor in the eastern suburbs!
As we talked a little about what Jesus is teaching us at the moment, and as I looked over the turquoise water, I was reminded of a favourite passage of mine:
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” - Ephesians 3:17b-19
What a prayer! Don’t you wish you could pray prayers like Paul? Fortunately, we can borrow such incredible words in prayer which is what I have been doing for you today.
What I love in particular about these verses is Paul’s description of God’s love. He prays that we would grasp the love of God before acknowledging that it has dimensions that cannot fully be grasped. He then prays that we’d know a love that cannot be fully known. It makes sense, then, that Paul would pray for power because grasping and knowing such love is beyond us.
As I looked at the ocean, I realised that were I to jump in, I would be completely immersed by it. I wouldn’t fully know the expanse of water but I would know something of it. I would grasp it in some way while also realising just how much greater these waters are than me. It’s like having some words to describe God’s love and yet never finding the words to express it in full.
The love of God answers the deepest longing of my soul. It tells me that I am significant, that I belong and that I am secure. I realise that if I don’t know this truly, I will go searching for it in all the wrong places. My encouragement to you today is to let the words of these verses marinate in your heart and mind. To immerse yourself like diving into the ocean. Like Paul I pray that you would have the power to grasp the ingraspable and there to find your soul truly satisfied in Him.
Much love,
Simon
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