One of my favorite memories of this past semester is a Wednesday night at the campus International Fellowship Group. Upon entering the room, after stepping around and over people to find a seat, I was greeted with hugs and kisses and warm hellos. The room was filled with twenty people, or more, from Japan, Vietnam, China, Korea, Ethiopia, Brazil, Canada, and the U.S., chattering in nearly as many different languages. After everyone had arrived we sang together in Japanese while the children played with percussion toys.
The leader that night began with the story from Luke, of two men traveling along the road to Emmaus. As they were walking and talking about what had happened to Jesus, another man joined them and explained the prophecies from Scripture to them. When the two men realized that it had been Jesus walking with them all along, they said "Didn't our hearts burn within us as he walked with us?".
Through the rest of the evening we each shared a story of when we have felt God's presence in our own lives. The stories ranged widely from moments of peace over a decision, finding God's providence in a time of need, experiencing the power of the Spirit by speaking in tongues, or seeing truth in the midst of doubt. Yet each one there had a story to share. Each one has known distinctly the burning in their hearts when God is near.
If there is anything I have learned this semester, it is that God is BIG. God is bigger than anything I can imagine. God is far bigger than any word that we can use to describe him. All the words in every language could not begin to describe the greatness of our God. Even the words written in Scripture cannot contain our God. God is bigger than any theology that we can study or any Truth that we think we can know. God is bigger than all my questions. And He is bigger than any answer I can come up with.
Yet God has chosen to create us in such a way that we can know Him, just a little. Out of His great love, He makes Himself known in every detail of our lives, every corner of our world. And what more profound way can He make His love known, than through a baby, born to unmarried peasants in first century Palestine? What way can He love us more than by becoming one of us, living like us, and dying for us? And then He gave us the gift of His Spirit, to walk with us, to guide us, to whisper His love to us and set our hearts on fire with His love.
I have learned that God is bigger than the piles of homework on my desk. He is bigger than any plan I can dream for my life. He is bigger than lost jobs and crunched budgets. He is bigger than wars and violence. He is bigger than lonliness and depression. He is bigger than grief. He is bigger than questions and doubts and anger. He is bigger than our insecurities and failures. He is bigger than our sin. But He loves us so powerfully, so deeply, that He walks with us along the journey, all the way. He is greater than what we can ever begin to wrap our minds around. Yet He wraps His arms around each of us, and holds us as closely as Mary once held Him.
May you know the greatness of God this year, even in the midst of questions.
