Standing Firm in Love – Head Over Heels & Heart Over Head

This summer I will be both the mother-of-the-bride and the mother-of-the-groom. How does that work, you ask? In the space of two months, my son and my daughter will be getting married. My heart is full to bursting!

Head Over Heels

My daughter’s wedding has been in the plans for a long time. She’s been imagining the big day since she was about three years old. Of course, the critical component was the amazing guy who would capture her heart. Although she created a lengthy list of desirable criteria for the would-be candidates, it would seem like she tossed it out the window, when she fell head over heels in love.

Heart Over Head

In contrast, my son seemed less interested in love and more interested in battles, where he and his friends saved imaginary worlds from doomed foes, in our backyard forest. He still spends time in the great outdoors, but now it is with a special young lady, his heart leading the way.

A Greater Story

It is total joy to watch the ways of the heart at work in both of our adult children. And yet, as wonderful and delightful as earthly love stories are, there is an invitation to all of us to an even greater, cosmic story. In this blog we consider the “R” of inSPIRE, Relationships, by considering the greatest invitation to love, ever. It is the place we find wholeness.

The mighty God of heaven reaches out through time and eternity to us, through the saving, sacrificial, incarnate Christ. He beckons us to experience the power of his infinite love. He calls those who respond to his invitation, his Church, his bride.

We are invited to be lovers, with our human flaws and failures. We’re wooed and pursued, invited to love God and be loved by him . Why would any god want that? It is an experience beyond our theological understanding. It exceeds all logic. It is a love too great to grasp, that fills empty places, and infuses us with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 3:18-19 sums it up this way –

“May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

If you know about God, but have no relational experience with God, this Scripture makes it clear that you are missing out. It is time to engage your heart and let it be filled with the immeasurable love of God, rather than looking on from afar.

I tried to imagine measuring the width, height, length and depth of something, anything, as suggested by Ephesians 3:18. You try. It’s just not possible to get four different measurements of anything. God gives us a task that is impossible, that our minds can’t grasp. I believe that is because he doesn’t want us to figure out his love for us with a measuring tape or a calculator, like we would a math problem.

“When one loves, one does not calculate.” St. Therese of Lisieux

God calls us to an experience, an infilling. That is his glorious invitation.

How

If you’re wondering how to experience God in these ways, take note that Ephesians 3:18-19 is a prayer. That’s a great place to start. Tell God you want to experience the love of Christ. Begin to worship the God who wants to make you complete with all the fullness of his life and power.

Here’s a song about the love of God. I suggest joining in with these artists, praising the God who loves you so.