Do we really trust him?

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

The Apostle Paul had been instructed to take the gospel message to the Gentile nation (those who were not part of the Jewish faith). He was told to teach them about the work of Christ on their behalf – to tear down any dividing wall between Jew and Gentile and to welcome all into the family of God. To this end, he asks God to help those who have welcomed Christ into their lives to know the intensity and integrity of God’s love. Intensity because God’s love is deeper than any human form of love. Integrity because it surpasses any boundaries man can establish.

Can we fully understand God’s love toward a group of sin-filled people? Nope, but we can ask God to show us the ‘dimensions’ of that love. It goes much farther than the dimension of our love because ours is so ‘conditional’. Perhaps that is why Paul is asking God to show us the width, depth, and breadth of God’s love. He knows we won’t be ‘at home’ in his presence until we come to experience and appreciate the dimensions of God’s love. It loved me when I was unlovely, keeps on loving me when I mess up, and always holds onto me even when I think I don’t need his guidance. How about you?

A fullness of live and power is available to all who trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Do we always live within that fullness? Nope, but we can ask God to help us move away from trusting in our own understanding and strength and move toward living within his. As we do, God gives us little glimpses into the dimensions of his love and grace, unfolding for us the things that aren’t always that ‘clear’ to us without his help. That may include why certain things happen when they do, but it could just be that God wants us to come to trust him, not just trust ‘in him’.

Trust isn’t easily understood, either. We say we trust someone or something because it has ‘proven’ itself, yet God’s love proved itself at the cross. We still find it hard to trust him with our lives at times, despite such great ‘proof’. So, the prayer to come to understand ‘fully’ is applicable to us, too. We don’t know just how much we need to understand until we come to realize just how much we don’t understand. Just sayin!