How wide...

             so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 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 3:17-19)

 

            In the past, I’ve written about love languages. I don’t recall whether I’ve written about personality types. Some people are irritated by any attempt to “classify” and “label” people. Some of those same people probably share posts about not helping people who are down, but simply “being there” for them. That’s one of the love languages. I happen to appreciate these categorizations because they help me to understand that just because I’m not just like everyone else doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me – no matter how hard I or others may argue that there is.

            There’s another group of categories: God languages or soul types. These address how it is we approach our relationship with God, and how we understand what God communicates with us. I’m not entirely comfortable with most of what I’ve read, but it makes sense to me that in creating all the diversity of things and beings in the universe, He might also create people who perceive Him in different ways. I’m not suggesting that all perceptions of God are equal and valid, and that someone who “experiences God” as being part of everything, or one of many is correct. I’m maintaining strict Christian doctrine (I think) but I’m just talking about how we perceive.

            The passage above at least hints at this idea. There are expressions of God’s love for us that are universal – life, for example. There are some that are more restricted but still comparatively general– salvation, for example.  But God also shows in Scripture that He meets people at their needs. His conversations with various people may have similar messages, but they’re not communicated in the same way. This is the reason I have a problem with the “all you need to do” answers I sometimes hear.

            At the same time, I’m not suggesting that God can’t and doesn’t require that we step out of our comfort zone or recognize His love in new and different ways. If we (try to) control how God must communicate His love for us, we become His gods. But being aware of our own ways of approaching or perceiving God, and being aware that other people may not be the same, is helpful. Being aware of our expectations of God and His tendency to meet our needs in a way that doesn’t quite fit our expectations is helpful. We can’t grasp the extent of His love if we can’t grasp anything about the form of that love.

            I suspect that one of my expectations is the desire that He would make everything all better and grant me instant success in everything. I want God to be my knight in shining armor. But one of the strongest confirmations of His love for me seems to be in His guidance of me over the years. I may not recognize it at the time, but looking back, it’s there. I think the direction I’m talking is all sorts of crazy – and others agree, but at the same time, I sense God in the works. I do no know how it can fit into what God is doing, but I’ve repeatedly felt sure it does. And that’s when I sense His love.