Have you ever experienced the view from heaven? Most of us have flown in airplanes and looked down at the patchwork of farms, rivers, forests and urban civilization below. Many of us have seen pictures of planet earth taken from space in textbooks or in documentary films. But have you ever floated above the clouds, felt the crisp, cool air on your face, and experienced the view from a vantage above where birds fly?
A few months ago, I did. I jumped out of a plane 2.5 miles above the earth.
For the first time in my life I had a glimpse of the unobstructed view from heaven. I wasn’t just seeing it through a glass window. I was experiencing it. Watching it unfold. Hearing it. Feeling it. Smelling it. Living it. Even though I was falling toward the ground at 120 mph, it felt like I was floating among the clouds as I looked out toward the horizon. And I wondered, is this what the psalmist means when he says, “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is God’s love…”?
Or is heaven even higher than 2.5 miles above the earth, and is the space between heaven and earth even greater than what we can see from horizon to horizon, in order to depict God’s love for us?
Here’s truth: God’s love is endless.
It can’t be measured. It can’t be contained. We can’t even begin to fathom the vastness of God’s love because there is no quantifying the distance between heaven and earth. No matter how far up we go, God is still higher and His love is still greater. Likewise, there is no quantifying the distance between sunrise and sunset. Through His love, God will take our sin and separate us from it as far as the sunrise is from the sunset. It will be gone. We will be free.
Just because we can’t truly comprehend God or heaven or the way He loves us to a fullness that has no measure, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try. There are mysteries that will remain mysteries. But there are amazing truths God is ready to reveal if we’ll take a step toward Him.
It’s like making a leap of faith. Like stepping out of the side of the plane into the open air of nothingness. Skydivers don’t jump out of an airplane to experience the brief moment of separating from the plane. And they don’t jump because they’re excited about the landing. They jump for the thrill of the ride down. The free fall. The floating on air. The view from heaven.
Just like skydivers, if we make the leap of faith and step out into the unknown of God’s love, we’ll see firsthand how wide and long and high and deep is God’s love. We’ll feel His hand beneath us like the wind that keeps us floating. We’ll experience a freedom in life through Him that’s like nothing we ever could have imagined.
Making the leap of faith into God’s hands may be a little scary at first. But the ride on the wind of His love will exhilarate us. It will empower us. It will humble us. It will take our breath away.
It’s time to get our parachutes on and prepare to jump. A band of sisters is about to light up the sky as we ride the wind in tandem! The view from heaven will be amazingly beautiful, and the thrill of the jump will be indescribable. Yet neither of these even begins to compare to the depth and fullness of love God wants us to experience.
Let’s make the leap of faith together and experience God’s love and forgiveness like never before.
“As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is [God’s] love to those who fear Him. And as far as the sunrise is from the sunset, He has separated us from our sins.” Psalm 103:11-12 (MSG)
May I pray?
God in Heaven, we have a hard time understanding You and Your love for us. We hear that Your love is powerful and unfailing for those who honor and reverently fear You. We hear that You will take away our sin to a place that is so far from us that it’s as if it never existed. And yet, because we can’t fully comprehend what this means, we sometimes believe it’s too much for us to think about. Help us today to meditate on the vastness of Your love that fills the distance between heaven and earth. May we take a step of faith in believing in You and Your unchanging love for us. Amen.
Q4U: Will you take a step of faith toward God today by really considering His endless love for you?