Loving God, transforming lives and becoming Ambassadors for Christ
Launch Out into the Deep
“Daddy! Daddy!”
The sound of my daughter’s voice yelling brought me out of my daydream. My family was enjoying a vacation on the Lake Worth Beach in Florida, on the Atlantic Ocean. Allison had been playing at the water’s edge when her glasses fell off her face and the surf took them out to sea. She was frantic as she could not see without them. I quickly calmed her down, then asked her to take me to the spot where her glasses fell in. With very little hope in my heart we stood at the spot, staring into the turbulent waters–praying for a miracle. After about 30 seconds in came her glasses on top of a wave and deposited right at our feet! We thought those glasses were going to end up somewhere across the ocean in Africa. What a miracle!
I am not sure exactly the path those glasses took in the surf, but I do know this much. They took a circular path. A particle in a wave in the ocean moves in circles with the wave action. This is pure physics. So those glasses went out, down, in, up, out, down, in, up; until the wave got them back close to shore. They must not have gone out very far because wave action will drive an object deeper. The circular path an object takes in the waves naturally drives it deeper in the water. As an object gets deeper, the circles it moves in becomes smaller to the point where it is deep enough that the wave has no effect on it. The rougher and choppier a sea is, the deeper an object has to go for the turbulence to not affect it.
Life has a way of mimicking the ocean
Life has a way of mimicking the ocean surface. Up and down; turbulent; sometimes calm.
Often, when we feel like we have life under control and all is well, we get thrown a curve ball. Cars break down; jobs are lost; relationships are damaged. Our emotions and faith seem to ride the same roller coaster of waves that our circumstances do. When life is well, our faith in God is high; when the difficulties come, we tend to lose our faith, or at least question God.
Take a brief look at Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus: “…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness ofmen in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” Eph 4:13-16 [NIV]
Those of us who have had infants know how one minute can be full of laughter and joy and the next can be full of tantrums and selfishness. There is a call here by the Apostle Paul, to grow into maturity of faith. Maturity (or completeness) will enable us to not be tossed around to and fro in the waves of every wind of teaching and deceit, but to remain steady and unaffected by these aspects.
Maturity will enable us to remain steady and unaffected
I would like to compare this maturity to going “deep” with God. If we stay on the surface of the ocean we will be tossed about but as we dive deeper, the turbulence of the surface does not affect us. In fact, if you go deep enough, you won’t even know the surface is chaotic. Life can be chaotic – but a deep relationship with God is steady, sure and constant. One who has a mature and deep relationship with God will not be tossed about but will stay on course and on track regardless of the circumstances of life.
God will use the turbulence in our lives to drive us to deeper relationship with Him. He wants us to know Him as our Father. He wants us to know that we have a secure place in His heart, that we do not need to face life in fear and frustration. Is there turbulence in your life right now? Does it seem out of control? Or at least do you feel like you are only able to react to the events of each day and never make progress?
we do not need to face life in fear
Launch out into the deep. Maybe your heart has never known a place of real security and love. But that place exists. It exists only in the heart of our heavenly Father. Can you take a step back from the turbulence of life and open up the Word of God? Can you make meeting with your Father a priority in your life?
I want to tell you; the surface of life is going to remain turbulent. The economy is turbulent; prices are rising; it is getting more difficult to maintain a standard of living. The future may seem very unsure to us. But we can count on the faithfulness and love of our Father. God will remain constant – NOTHING can separate us from His love. Go ahead, dive down deep into the heart of God. Away from the turbulence of life. It is worth it down there!