Last post I shared a excerpt from John Bunyan's All Loves Excelling in which he expounded on God's infinite greatness in all of his attributes, especially that of His love. He is a breadth beyond all breadth, a length beyond all lengths, a depth beyond all depths, and a height beyond all heights. Here, Bunyan offers an application to believers.
"And I will say, there is nothing more helpful, succoring, or comfortable to a Christian while in a state of trial and temptation, than to know that there is a breadth to answer a breadth, a length to answer a length, a depth to answer a depth, and a height to answer a height"
In other words, we all face trials and temptations in this life. We all experience fear, doubt, confusion, insecurity, injustice, feelings of ineptitude, etc....Frankly, the struggles and brokenness we face in this world are overwhelming. In light of these overwhelming struggles, it is terribly exhausting and eventually ineffective to combat these struggles by relying on the breadth, length, depth and height of our own strength and power. We forget that we are finite beings who are not only limited in our abilities, but who are also prone to dig ourselves into a deeper hole.
That is why in the midst of such struggle, temptation, injustice, and fear, we need a love that is infinite. We need a strength that is stronger than ours. We need a hope that is deeper and more beautiful than self-centered hope. This is the hope that Bunyan talks about. For the Christian, our hope and comfort is in God. Regardless of how deep your pain is, God's love is deeper still. No matter how broad your affliction be, God's comfort has more breadth. Your struggle may be long, but Christ's love is infinitely longer.
God is our Rock and a Refuge for us. The love and comfort God offers to us in Christ is infinitely better than any other comfort we could look to.
"And I will say, there is nothing more helpful, succoring, or comfortable to a Christian while in a state of trial and temptation, than to know that there is a breadth to answer a breadth, a length to answer a length, a depth to answer a depth, and a height to answer a height"
In other words, we all face trials and temptations in this life. We all experience fear, doubt, confusion, insecurity, injustice, feelings of ineptitude, etc....Frankly, the struggles and brokenness we face in this world are overwhelming. In light of these overwhelming struggles, it is terribly exhausting and eventually ineffective to combat these struggles by relying on the breadth, length, depth and height of our own strength and power. We forget that we are finite beings who are not only limited in our abilities, but who are also prone to dig ourselves into a deeper hole.
That is why in the midst of such struggle, temptation, injustice, and fear, we need a love that is infinite. We need a strength that is stronger than ours. We need a hope that is deeper and more beautiful than self-centered hope. This is the hope that Bunyan talks about. For the Christian, our hope and comfort is in God. Regardless of how deep your pain is, God's love is deeper still. No matter how broad your affliction be, God's comfort has more breadth. Your struggle may be long, but Christ's love is infinitely longer.
God is our Rock and a Refuge for us. The love and comfort God offers to us in Christ is infinitely better than any other comfort we could look to.
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