What Happens When You’re Drenched in God’s Endless, Relentless Love

I’m gliding quickly through the Gospels, the rapid reading pace making the events flow like a film on repeat. Near the end of Mark’s account, an already-underlined sentence brings me to a full stop:

“I am,’ God said, “Not ‘I was” (Mark 12:26, The Voice).

It hits like the curled top of an ocean wave: every name I’ve penned in Bible margins, in answer to Ann Voskamp’s question in Sacred Prayer–”Who do I say that God is today? (Mark 8:29)”–is who God is in the right-now. Not a single descriptor is merely a past-tense attribute of God’s nature. Each name spans as far back and reaches as far beyond as endless eternity.

The enormity of God reminds me of the day I stood waist-deep in the ocean as the waves lifted, rocked, and crashed over me. I’m one reluctant to get wet, but on this particular vacation day Rick Pino’s song, “Your Love is Like an Ocean” surfaced in my thoughts, and I tentatively stepped in. Deeper. Deeper. Deeper.

It’s as if it were just me and God out there with glistening sun and swelling water. Every wave was a reminder of the way He loves, and I didn’t care how many crashed over my head or hit me full in the face.

Every wave was a reminder of the way He loves, and I didn’t care how many crashed over my head or hit me full in the face.

I was love-drank on the endless, relentless love of Jesus. The saturating, refining, joy-filling love in His bottomless heart–for me!

Who God Is

Paging back through the names of God now filling over two-thirds of my Bible pulls me back into the ocean. I remember the wetness of cool water, the scent of salt, the closeness of God all over again with every name I read aloud:

In Genesis, God is Hovering “Spirit-Wind” (ch. 1, v. 2). In Exodus, He’s Visible Presence. In Leviticus, He’s Trustworthy Doctor. Numbers, Consuming Jealousy. Deuteronomy, Champion Deliverer.

He’s Withness Forever in Joshua, Soul Strength in Judges, Rich Reward in Ruth, Inner Character Considerer in 1 Samuel, and Forever-Reining King in 2 Samuel.

In 1 Kings, God is Friend to Me. In 2 Kings, He’s Turned Face. In 1 Chronicles, He’s Fearsome Holiness, and in 2 Chronicles, God is “Always Been” (ch. 6, v 5).

He’s Careful Diligence in Ezra, Steady Attention in Nehemiah, Always-Right Timing in Esther, Unable-To-Be-Withstood Majesty in Job, Nevertheless Peace in Psalms, Never-Vanishing Richness in Proverbs, and Life-Preserving Wisdom in Ecclesiastes.

In Song of Songs, He’s Banner of Declared Love; in Isaiah, He’s the Face of Grace. God is Refilling Cistern in Jeremiah and “Inexhaustable Compassion” in Lamentations (ch. 3, v. 22).

God, in the book of Jeremiah, is Invitation to Turn Around. In Daniel, He’s Revealer of the Veiled. In Hosea, Re-Gatherer. In Joel, Coming Intervention. In Amos, Merciful Relenter.

God’s “Holy Hill” of Safety in Obadiah (v. 17), Pursuing Protection in Jonah, Hope Who Hears in Micah, Slow-Building Anger in Nahum, and On-Time Revelation in Habakkuk.

In Zephaniah, God is Standing Among Us. In Haggai, He’s Discouragement Dissolver. In Zechariah, Awakened Glory. And in Malachi, God is Family-Like Love.

Wild, Drenching Love

Although there’s a 400-year pause between Malachi and the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, God never for a moment stopped being God. Just like an ocean is continually in motion, so God ceaselessly reaches towards us with wild, drenching love.

Right into the ache swaying your thoughts.

Right into the grief cycle you can’t slow.

Right into the questions you haven’t spoken aloud.

Right into the lies you whisper to the mirror.

Maybe you’re stuck in the silence and it seems that God’s pulled back. That He isn’t STILL capable and deserving of all glory. That the mighty God of the Old Testament has diminished.

But read through the stories of Jesus walking here amongst us, of leaning towards the unheard and overlooked, of eating with the defamed and infamous, of teaching in parables and gently interpreting them for His disciples, of stretching His arms on the cross so He could carry you home, and you’ll see the same God who longed to be near us, who offered protection and second chances, who couldn’t hold back his throbbing love for us.

He’s no less glorious or enormous today than when He showed up in Old Testament days and knees became suddenly weak. No less justice-minded. No less redemption-oriented. No less compassionately merciful. No less jealous for our undivided affection.

He’s no less glorious or enormous today than when He showed up in Old Testament days and knees became suddenly weak. (Twyla Franz quote)

Who God was is who He is–and who He is, is who He will always be.

Endless, Underserved Grace

Because God never ceases to be God, He is always–always!–everything you could possibly need.

We talked a few weeks back about God being a highly skilled surgeon, expert in every area, not merely a general surgeon. How every one of His names meets a need, and every need we could ever have already has an answer in Him.

And now, as I read through the Gospels, I’m reminded that Jesus came for the bruised and busted and rejected, the liars and tattle-tales and gossips, the perfectionists and people pleasers, the work addicts and unemployed, the chronically ill and divorced, the turned down and discouraged. He came for one and all of us in need of a doctor (Matt. 9:12).

Today, let’s pause and let the gravity of God’s grace crash over us like ocean waves. We don’t deserve an ounce of it, yet He drenches us with underserved love. With all the fullness of Who He is.

We don’t deserve an ounce of it, yet He drenches us with underserved love. (Twyla Franz quote)

Maybe if we stood here a moment longer, undone by the enormity of God, we couldn’t keep quiet about it. Maybe gratitude would rise irrepressible and leak unannounced into our conversations. Maybe the people around us–in our neighborhoods and schools and offices and grocery stores–would catch a taste and follow us into the ocean of God’s age-less, bottom-less love.

Let’s pray.

God, You are an enormous, never-changing God. You’re big enough and strong enough and wise enough and tender enough to hold all our hurts and hopes. Overwhelm us with the depth of Your love until we can’t help but to talk about it!

May we respond with joy to Your invitation to proximity so our love and our work and our words overflow from our time in Your presence.

* I’m taking Mary Demuth’s 90-Day Bible Reading Challenge, searching for names of God as I read like it’s some sort of treasure hunt. Never though to look for God in this way until I began journaling through Ann Voskamp’s Sacred Prayer.

Just a friend over here in your corner,