Love Goes Farther

“Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39 ESV

August 3rd, 2019, was the day of the shooting in El Paso, Texas. The shooter went out of his way to drive 10 hours to a Walmart so that he could kill the Mexican community as well as the El Paso community. As a result, 22 lives were taken and 25 were injured. If someone can go out of their way and drive 10 hours to kill and destroy, is it possible that someone could go out of their way and go even farther to rebuild, restore, and renew hope? Could it be that love goes farther? Could it be that love would defeat hate?

August 19th was the day that my friends, Jono and Adam, and I jumped in a rented Nissan Rogue and started a life-changing journey. We didn’t have a plan and barely had any money. But we did have a message, and that message was, “We love you. God loves you. And love goes farther.” Our goal was to take this message and drive 2,320 miles across the country and deliver it to the people who are hurting. We wanted to show the people of El Paso that if someone can go out of their way to kill and destroy, we’ll go even farther out of our way to love you, hug you, and pray with you. It may sound bizarre, but that just means it took faith. We had to tell ourselves that we weren’t going to let any obstacles stop us from delivering this message. 

August 23rd was the day we arrived in El Paso, after driving 34 hours over four days. We were immediately welcomed upon the very first step we took out of our car. The love we wanted to show to El Paso seemed to already be there. The next morning we reached our destination, which was the site of the shooting. Exactly three weeks ago from this day, a man decided to drive from 10 hours away on a mission of hatred and evil to nearly exactly where we were standing. But on this day the atmosphere shifted. On this day the plot changed. On this day love had the final say. It was by a thread that we were able to pull this trip off — it was by the grace of God. At that moment, you had three people who came way out of their way and miraculously arrived at a Walmart in El Paso. Only this time it was out of love. Only this time restoration took place, rebuilding took place, hope took place, and love took place. Not only were hugs shared, connections made, bonds built, but something powerful took place on this day. Three strangers gathered with dozens of El Paso natives in unity to hold hands and pray. This specific moment was the turning point. This is when the atmosphere shifted. This is the part of the story where you can see that love goes farther. You also need to know God can turn an atmosphere from death to life, from destruction to restoration, from hopeless to hopeful, from broken to unified. If you recognize you’re in a bad place right now, you need to know God can change the atmosphere because his love goes farther!

During our trip I had some time to reflect on a lot of things. The one thing I reflected on the most was God’s love. The entire trip, and the emphasis of our message, revolved around God’s love. Before we started our journey, all we had was a message and we knew in order to deliver our message we had to drive 2,320 miles and go through some obstacles on the way. As I was reflecting on the trip, I felt God telling me, “This trip is a picture of how my love works.” 

Similarly, Jesus has a message for you. In order to deliver his message, he had to travel a long distance, and go through obstacles. His message to you is, “I love you.” In order for him to deliver that message he had to die on a cross for you, but the cross didn’t stop him. It doesn’t matter how far away you are because he’ll find his way to you and deliver his message. It doesn’t matter where you are physically, he’ll find his way to you. It doesn’t matter where you are mentally, he’ll find his way to you. It doesn’t matter where you are emotionally, he’ll find his way to you. It doesn’t matter where you are spiritually, he’ll find his way to you. It doesn’t matter where you are circumstantially, he’ll find his way to you. You can be at your lowest, you can be in the darkest place, you can feel distant, you can feel alone, you can be at your worst, no matter where you are, God will find you and tell you he loves you. There is no place you can be physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually that is outside of God’s reach because his love goes farther.

“Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39 ESV