Everywhere I Am
“God loves us everywhere He is. More astonishingly, He loves us everywhere we are. Sometimes we are near; so many times, we are far. But His love for us is deep and wide and absolutely unchanging.”
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 CSB).
Our kids have a way of teaching us about ourselves. But my role as a parent has done more to teach me about God’s love than anything else. My kids and I have always been generous in saying “I love you.” As they’ve gotten older, it has become one of our things to sort of one-up each other, which usually happens at bedtime. So for instance, I may tell Avery “I love you all the way to the moon.” And then she’ll say “I love you allllll the way to West Monroe!” Those of you who live somewhere else, this is our town. But in Avery’s mind, that totally beats the moon! It’s super sweet, and as she gets older, she gets better at this little game. She now responds with “I love you all the way to Heaven.” My sweet girl doesn’t even realize the implication there.
The other day, though, she said something that stunned me because of how much it meant.
“I love you, Avery, all the way to sky.”
“Mama, I love you everywhere I am!”
Me too, little girl.
Here is what I considered: there is nowhere she can go, near or far, where she doesn’t love me.
But here is what it also made me realize about the Lord:
1. There is absolutely nothing we can do to separate us from His love either.
God loves us everywhere He is. More astonishingly, He loves us everywhere we are. Sometimes we are near; so many times, we are far. But His love for us is deep and wide and absolutely unchanging. If you’ve never watched The Chosen, do yourself a favor and go watch it. Nicodemus, a religious leader, wrestles with who Jesus is. In a powerful scene when they meet in private, he desperately tries to understand how to be born again. We get to see Jesus speak John 3:16. The best way Jesus can explain the Father’s love is to say, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” In other words, “He gave me.” I’ll never be able to wrap my mind around God giving His Son; I’ll never be able to comprehend God giving Himself. But His love compelled Him to do so. And this love was in motion from the very beginning. He always knew He’d give Himself for our redemption. God loves us. He literally loves you all the way to Heaven. Please let that truth sink in. Because from this truth everything else flows down.
2. I want this to be true of my love for Jesus.
I want to be able to say I love Jesus everywhere I am too. Not just in the high moments, when His blessings in my life are abundant and clear. Not just when He seems to be answering my prayers. But even when it seems He isn’t. Even when He seems to be silent. Even when it seems He has forgotten. Because as much as I don’t want to vocalize those things, I have felt them. And I am certain you have too. But because God’s love for me is unchanging and steady—because I know His character through His Word—I can rest and know that these thoughts aren’t true. And when I go through dark, painful, blurry seasons, I can honestly say I love Him just as much even then—everywhere I am.
I love my kids everywhere I am. As long as I have breath in my lungs, my love for them is constant; nothing can diminish it. Nothing they do to break my heart could lessen it. It’s a love that’s achingly constant.
And I hear God say the same thing to me and to you: “I love you everywhere I am. I love you so much more than you’ll ever know. Since the very beginning—even in your wandering and your failures. Even when you’re far and it aches.”
And I want to be able to say to Him in return that no matter where I am, no matter what I walk through, I love Him because I know Him. Because He first loved me.