Abounding – Devotion 140 – SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

For something to be abounding, it has to be abundant and extraordinarily plentiful. There has to be so much of it that the quantity cannot be counted. The beginning and the end cannot be comprehended. Some of our closets look like we are trying to define abounding in our stuff. Sometimes we work as though we want to abound in money. Yet, in all too many cases, we are abounding in stress and anxiety, worry and fear. This is not what God has provided. God has so much more for us, but it is not found in possessions or accumulations. There is so much more than all of this.

Several times in the Bible, God is described as abounding in steadfast love. That has captured my attention. His love is overwhelmingly abundant. His love is so plentiful that I cannot equate it. I cannot see the beginning or the end of it. Everywhere I look and everywhere I go, his love is there. His love calls me from the depths of despair and showers me in the mountains of praise. His love is abounding. And his love is steadfast. To be steadfast is immovable, consistent, and enduring. So we have been given a love that is not only abounding, but also is with us and not changed by us. Since we didn’t earn it, all we can do is welcome it. We welcome God’s overwhelming, extraordinarily plentiful, immovable love into our lives. We are loved beyond our comprehension.

It does not mean I always feel his love. It does not mean I will ever understand it. It does not mean that there will not be suffering or difficulties or tragedies. What it does mean is that in spite of all those things, God’s love is with us. What it means is that those things do not hinder or change God’s love. If God’s love is truly abounding and steadfast, our problems do not squash it. Our issues do not diminish it. Our hurts and pains do not dismiss it. We are given God’s amazing love because that is who God is. Maybe it is simply time we welcome this love into our lives. May this abounding, steadfast love change you – and may you share it. God’s love can do it.

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 86:1-7

¹Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am poor and needy.
²Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
    save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; ³be gracious to me, O Lord,
    for to you do I cry all day long.
⁴Gladden the soul of your servant,
    for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
⁵For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
    abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.
⁶Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my cry of supplication.
⁷In the day of my trouble I call on you,
    for you will answer me.