God's Love Goes Beyond Understanding

Our summer theme at Camp Metigoshe is God's Love Goes Beyond. I wrote this piece for our Wednesday day theme of God's love goes beyond understanding.

Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s Pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, an d he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

In this time of COVID-19, understanding has been something that seems far off for me. Specifically, when all of this started, the list of things I didn’t understand was approximately the length of a book. Not only did I not understand the simple logistics regarding the situation, but I didn’t understand the bigger picture of “Why” either. Maybe you have felt yourself feeling the same way, or maybe the same feelings but a different situation. Math can be another easy example. Even though I enjoy math and am pretty good at it, there were many times where I simply, didn’t understand. It was the start of my sophomore year of college and I just moved into my on campus apartment, however, there was a feeling that I knew that me being there wasn’t right. So, I dropped out of college and I moved home and proceeded to work on the assembly line at John Deere Electronic Solutions for a year. I didn’t understand why I felt this way or why I knew this was right or the purpose in this whole situation. But, I do know that everything works out. You learn something through every situation. I learned many things amongst my ability to not understand.

In our story today, the angel Gabriel, came to Mary and told her that she was going to have a baby and name him Jesus. Mary did not understand why God chose her but she put her trust in God anyways. Even though she didn’t understand why or how, she knew that God had something big planned.

In the same way, when we don’t understand, God’s love remains. God’s love is so great that we can’t fully comprehend it. It’s greater than what we can imagine. When things happen that we don’t understand, or situations that we are confused about, God’s love is greater. God has a plan through it all. God’s love is boundless and never ending. God's love remains with us through the confusion and unknown.

Better Together,

Jess