I Want to Go Deeper into this Water

Being out of a job is no fun. The anxiety, especially in today's market, is overwhelming. The worry about the future, bills, interviews, finding something I like that will actually pay money, etc. etc. is non-stop. But in the middle of these negative emotions, it is important to find a little "deeper water". Remember, "deeper water" as we are using it, and as the writer of Ezekiel is using it is not the dangerous, overwhelming, fearful place or circumstance that is the usual understanding of this phrase. No "deeper water" is the goal and result of a deepening relationship with God. A place or circumstance where our faith in Him is strengthened, our dependence on Him is heightened and our reliance on Him is complete. As I face my job hunt, I am praying for the angel of the Lord to take me into "deeper waters". I want to know His promises and feel His presence. I want to see His moving and saving grace. I want to deepen my trust in Him and find the place and circumstance in my life where I can truly rely on Him regardless of the situation. I am not there yet, but I am moving deeper into the water of His presence and love all the time. I hope you are too.

Pray for a job for me and write me back and share your "deeper water" story with us.

My Water Just Got a Lot Deeper

I think the angel of the Lord that I talked about in the last couple of posts has just pushed me off into the deep end! My company closed and I am now "between jobs". Talk about a place to test one's faith! Two feelings are alternating within my brain... the first of course is fear and panic. This is a ridiculously difficult time to be without a job. The economy stinks and businesses are shrinking not growing. There are bills to pay and the future is nothing short of scary. Alternating with that emotion however is a deep abiding sense of relief. I liked my job and loved the people I worked for and with, but there was a sense of dread and depression about spending the rest of my life calling on customers who (at least in this environment) don't really want to see you. That was tough. (Any salesmen out there who can relate?) Equal to the fear of not having a steady job right now, is the sense of hope I feel for what is coming. I am exploring positions I really want and organizations I really want to work with, rather than jumping on the first thing that comes along. I am looking for a position with an organization making a positive impact on the world in the name of the Lord. I want to do something significant with my life. I want more than just a job. And that is the DEEPER WATER I have been pushed into. Remember, DEEPER WATER is not necessarily troubled times or difficulties in life, it is not synonymous with the "hot water" we get ourselves into (and man have I had my share of that!)... DEEPER WATER is the gradual moving into a deeper dependence on God for everything in life. It is that understanding of DEEPER WATER that is the source of the hope I feel right now. This trial is going to result in my depending on God in a deeper, more significant, more connecting, more fulfilling way. That is going to make life better! Regardless of the changes in lifestyle that may come, life will be better! Yeah God!

So where are the trials of your life pushing you into DEEPER WATER... not into more trouble, but into a deeper dependence on God and a more significant relationship with Him. That is where the "fun" is... the deep, clear, swim and play to our hearts contentment, water that represents a total dependence on the One who created us and knows us best... not a bad place to put one's trust or to find hope for the future. I am going to find a place to serve Him and others and life will be better because of the DEEPER WATER I am in... how about you? Wanna come swim with me- or more importantly with HIM? Life is really all about "moving into deeper water."

What happens when the water get over your head? In the Biblical account that started this whole thing, the prophet is eventually taken out into water that is over his head... Ezekiel 47. In the story this is a good thing. These waters are the waters that bring life. Water is like that. It brings life, nourishes, cleanses, refreshes... those are all the things Jesus wants to do in our lives. And He will, when we allow Him to forgive and restore us. Wanna know more about that? Leave me a comment or send me an email, I will be glad to share His plan of salvation with you.

But what about when the waters are flood waters, rising over our heads, overwhelming us, seeking to kill us? What about that reality of water? Don't think water can be dangerous? Ask the folks of the Red River Valley- or the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast- or the Florida peninsula. Water can kill you and destroy things and leave us homeless, helpless and hopeless. When those are the waters surrounding us we need a savior. It is noteworthy in the Ezekiel account that the prophet is not left to face the deepening waters alone. The angel is by his side the entire time, a savior in time of need. That angel is Jesus for you and me today. Like a helicopter lowering a safety basket, a rowboat sent to rescue us from the flood or a simple life jacket put on before ever stepping foot in the boat, our faith in Jesus can pull us through any situation. The floods most of us face are self-induced and generally emotional or spiritual. We are flooded with media images of what we should be, what we should have or want, what we should look like, drive, drink, play with or read. We inundated with images, perverse and divine, seeking to pull us into the dark waters of American culture. We need a savior to rescue us from ourselves- our lusts, greed, deceit and self-centeredness, that will consume us and separate us from each other and from our Creator. When those waters start rising we had better have a life line to Him and we better know how to use it.

Do you have that life line? Will you survive the flood that would destroy us, separate us from loved ones, drag us down into dark and lonely place? Jesus is the only answer. He has been there and knows the way out. What if you ask Him about the rising waters in your life today? I bet He has a life preserver handy, and I know He wants nothing more than to pull you from those dark, cold waters and give you the life He called abundant. Just ask Him. Right now- ask Him to reveal Himself to you and to help you change the deep waters you are swimming in from life-threatening to life giving. If you ask, He will. Let me know how that goes for you.

Moving into deeper waters is just another description of the journey of and into faith that God calls us to. The metaphor comes from a story in the Bible in the 47th Chapter of the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. An angel of the Lord appears to the prophet and in a vision shows him a spring flowing from the temple of the Lord and becoming a strong, flowing river. The angel instructs the prophet to walk out into the water a ways, the water is up to the prophet's ankles. After a pause the angel instructs the prophet to move into deeper water, up to his knees. This process is repeated several more times- to the waist, to the neck, and finally over his head... A relationship with God is like that. We ALL begin standing on the bank, looking out over the water. It is beautiful and inviting. The water is "life giving" (both in the Biblical story and in real life). We feel the tug in our spirits, like that in the heart of a child standing on the edge of the ocean, to run play in the water, to feel it's refreshing, life giving essence, to immerse ourselves in it, to enjoy it. For all the other things religion has tried to make a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, I believe this is the essence. God desires for us to enter a process whereby we intentionally and incrementally immerse ourselves in His love, His presence, His forgiveness, His grace, HIM. He is the life giving water- or as Jesus said the "living water"- for which each of our hearts long. Every relationship with God begins with this longing and ends with the fulfillment of this longing as we enter into His full presence after we die and are released from the limitations of our human bodies which separate us from Him today. Have you felt that longing? Do you know that stirring in your soul as you experience some wonder of His creation or act of His love through a faithful human that causes you to ask, "does God really exist and really care about us?" If so, you are standing on the bank. If you want to you can move out a little bit into the water- "test" them if you will. Listen to your heart. Examine your feelings. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you and really expect an answer. Move into deeper waters.

Let me know how it goes.

Deeper Waters

When I was a kid my folks would often take us for a picnic at the beach on the way to Aunt Edna's. Sometimes we would have on shorts or swimsuits, some times not. There are few things in life more frustrated than little kids at the beach being told they can't go in the water. We would stand on the edge and wish. We would sneak in a toe or even roll up our pants and try a foot. But always, the real fun, we knew, was in the deeper waters. Life is like that sometimes... we stand on the edge wanting to dive in... and in fact the Bible calls us to move into "deeper waters"... but we don't, or can't, or won't. Check back here often for encouragement and lessons on how to move into the deeper waters of a faith in God that is growing. Who knows, maybe like the salt stains on our shorts that told Aunt Edna we had been in the water, some of what we share here might stick on you, and people might just see a little God in you.