I Love You to the Moon and Back

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

–Psalm 103:11-12

On the way to church this morning, my husband mentioned during our small talk that the odometer had just turned over to 66,555 miles. “Just think,” he said. “We’ve driven a little over a quarter of the way to the moon!” Although I knew the moon hadn’t been our destination these past ten-odd years of driving, I had to laugh at his delightful way of mapping our progress. It started me thinking about heavenly bodies.

Back on a cold late night in March 1997, I remember looking up into the dark sky to see the Hale-Bopp comet furrowing its cosmic path across the heavens. I had just heard on the news that the comet would be the closest to the earth this night, a mere 122,236,887 miles away. That’s 512 times the distance the earth is to the moon! As I stared in wonder at this astronomical phenomenon, the Lord whispered Isaiah 55:9 to my heart: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” I felt so humbled and awed at the greatness of my God!

I don’t think it coincidence that the sermon this morning was about how much God loves us, despite our faults, our sins, and our flimsy excuses. We might feel we have a neon sign on our forehead that flashes our sins and that is all God sees. We need to remember that because of our faith in Jesus, he sees us in whole, as his precious child. He sees our regret for our sins. He sees our frustration when we try to overcome a sin on our own, without the help of the Holy Spirit. Most importantly, the Lord sees our fear that he may stop loving us.

It was no mistake that God wanted me to think on an astronomic scale this morning. He wanted me to know that there is at least 122,236,887 miles of his love for me, for each and every one of his children. In my heavenly journey toward Love, in odometer terms, it’s like I’m still in the driveway, just beginning to explore God’s endless road of loving kindness. Can you hear him speak to your heart? It’s as if the Lord is calling out, “I love you to the moon and back and many, many times more.”