Overwhelmed By Love
Over recent weeks, and in various places, I have shared something of my experience of encountering the love of God, and the way that has changed my life. These have been truly overwhelming experiences. Sadly, the word ‘love’ is often devalued both by the over-sentimental use of the term and its use when ‘enjoy’ would be more appropriate. For example, I enjoy chocolate very much.
My first encounter with the love of God took place on hastings Pier on the Saturday before Easter Sunday in 1963 where I attended a meeting where Sylvia Smith, a TES evangelist was speaking about the forgiveness Jesus showed from the cross. I went into that meeting with a head knowledge of what the cross was about, and left with my first overwhelming sense of God’s love for me. It was a real experience. I felt that love.
My second encounter took place about 14 months later in a little AOG church where I was present as a visiting mission team member. I had thought myself to be a truly dedicated Chrisrian and almost the epitome of Christian love. I had thought that the person preaching that evening was preaching at me about an experience of the Holy Spirit I had not received, though I had sought it passionately for over a year. While the preacher was an excellent evangelist, some aspects of his character were very unattractive. So while I should have been listening, I rehearsed before God my colleagues hypocrisies and failings.
Suddenly I felt the Holy Spirit leave me, though I would have had difficulty in describing how I felt his presence before that moment. I immediately knew the Spirit was grieved by my judgmental attitude (the very thing in my list of accusations against my colleague). As I asked God to take away my bitterness and baptise me in his love, I received a powerful sensational experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. While I remained aware of my colleague’s failings, I found a very real sense of brotherly love towards him. It was not a love inherent of myself; it was God’s love the Spirit had poured into my heart. (See Romans 5:5)
An overwhelming love for God
But wonderful as past experiences are, I continue to find myself feeling overwhelmed by this love. I remain amazed at the love of God towards me. First and foremost, the plan and price of my salvation. I will probably never fully understand all that Jesus endured on the cross, and the emotional rollercoaster he went on through that time. But the love of God has for me, with all my failings also amazes me. Despite my disappointing him he keeps loving me and proving that love with daily blessings. I know that he loves me as I am, but too much to let me stay that way. For all of that I love God.
Love of my friends and family
Doreen and I never had children, but we had the joy of fostering teenagers, all now middle aged. Michael, who lived with us until he was 20, warmed my heart with his Father’s Day card and phone call in the past week. Regular phone calls and messages from my sister and brother, nephews and nieces, plus my sisters-inlaw make me aware of the treasure of love I have around me. Added to this God has given me good neighbours and many good friends. But all these are not here so that I feel loved. They are here for me to love and seek to share with them God’s love
Love of myself
I have to say that I find some subjective comments about loving oneself hard to understand. I am aware that I have failed many times and in many ways. There are plenty of ‘if onlys’ but knowing how much I am loved by God despite my failings, enables me to accept and love myself. I am his child, a co-heir with the Son. I could not be valued more, and I revel in that knowledge. I am not always loveable but I love the me that Jesus loves.
Love for the unlovely
There is a line in the hymn, “My song is Love unknown” that goes “Love for the loveless shown that they might lovely be.” There are many unlovely people in this world doing unlovely acts. Sometimes people have done or said unlovely things to me. But instead of feeling anger, God has enabled me to feel love. That’s not normal and it never excuses bad behaviour, but I cannot deny the extraordinary love. Do I sometimes feel hurt? Yes, but there is always that response of love. My late wife’s sad experience of Alzheimer’s Disease robbed her and me of the personality with whom I fell in love. So, I asked the Lord to help me love the new person with whom I was living. He did, and every day brought fresh challenges, but with them those overwhelming experiences of deep love. Wonderfully, Doreen changed again at the end and showed very real love and affection to me and to her carers.
Love for this present world
I regret that early influences in my Christian life tended to present this world as a bad place, not to be loved. But, of course the “world” we are discouraged from is described as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 John 2: 15-17) This is not the created world, but the sinful realm. When I was a young boy we used to sing a hymn in Sunday School that starts with the words, “The world looks very beautiful. and full of joy to me; The sun shines out in splendour on everything I see” (Words : https://hymnary.org/text/the_world_looks_very_beautiful
The beauty of the created world is a real joy. But I also love the beautiful aspects human beings bring to it. Beautiful social interactions in real life or portrayed on the screen and in books, beautiful music, beautiful art - are all enjoyed and accompanied with laughter and tears of joy.
Love of scripture
I never tire from reading and exploring scripture. Recent online Bible studies in Philippians and Ephesians has been like drinking fresh water from a pure stream. There are vital truths tucked into the nuances in Paul’s letters that are fabulous. I finish our online Bible studies excited and reinvigorated. I just love God’s word - it is such an amazing book. Furthermore, though written long ago, it speaks into my life every day..
These are just some of the aspects of the love that overwhelms me on a day by day basis. Paul writes about God’s love in a prayer in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus. He prays that they might be able to grasp the immensity of this love, to know it experientially, and be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3: 14-21)
I hope that my reflections on this overwhelming love for God and all he brings into my life, will deepen your own love for God and the beautiful things he brings into your life. Why not take a moment to ponder this amazing love and revel in it. I find it has a wonderful way of eclipsing those temporary experiences of physical pain and disappointments.
Stay safe and stay blessed.
Barry - 25 June 2020
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