strength to comprehend

Ephesians 3:16 - 19(ESV) that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

When I first read this passage this morning, my thought was different than now as I re-read it. So I'm not sure if I was just misinterpreting it the first time, or if the moment of revelation is already gone. (This is why I need to take time to reflect as I read this but today, I had to leave for an interview!)

Anyway, when I first read it, the words that jumped out at me were "may have the strength to comprehend...." This is part of the prayer for the people for whom the letter was written. Paul is praying that the people of Ephesus come to appreciate how much God loves them and has done for them. Part of the prayer is that they have the strength to comprehend.

I don't know if it theologically correct or acceptable to take just a few words and decide some meaning from them. But I'm going to do it anyway. Paul wants the Ephesians to have enough strength to understand the depth and breadth and width and height of the love that God has for them. That seems strange to me that one needs strength to comprehend how much God loves us.

God is so overwhelming that one must have strength to comprehend or what, why do they need strength??? Remember, Moses had to cover his face after talking to God face to face because the Israelites were afraid of the radiant glow on his face from God. God doesn't appear in the New Testament unless underexposed, such as "descending as a dove" in the story of Jesus' baptism (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10 and Luke 3:22), or in the form of the newborn baby and later as an unassuming man named Jesus. God is so awesome, so overwhelming, that we need strength to comprehend. I am dumbstruck with how dumbstruck I am with this statement. I can't wrap my head around something so big.

I guess that's the point. Paul prays for us (notice the passage- he says "with all the saints") to have strength to comprehend the bits of God as they are revealed to us. That we are able to withstand the conviction of our own sin when stacked up against His Righteousness and Greatness and His undeserved Love for us. This takes me back to other passages where the sinner says something like, "woe to me, I am a sinner." (See Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5 and Peter in Luke 5:8)

Jesus: Woe to me. I am a sinner. Forgive me, cleanse me, make me acceptable to You. But first, give me the strength to comprehend Your love for me so I can take it. Amen.

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