Carol J German

I am a shallow-water girl. The deeper the water, the more apprehensive I get. Deep water is dark and you just never know what is down in the depths. So, when God takes me to deeper waters of trust, I tend to cringe a bit and want to hold back. “Lord, I am comfortable right where you have me.” “My child,” God whispers, “faith is active and always moving forward.” The Lord then takes me deep sea diving to deepen my trust in Him.

At first, I don’t care for it. The water is cold and unknown. I want to know where God is leading me and why. This desire to know tends to bring on frustration and fear within me. I question God. Do I dare admit that I argue with Him? And in these wrestling times, I am reminded in how God has been faithful to take care of me up to this point.

I am reminded that God the Father loves me fiercely. God the Son walks with me and leads me in His Sovereign plan. God the Spirit redirects my thinking and enlightens my heart once again. There is no room for quitting or stalling. The Trinity is real, and His plan is unfolding whether I choose to walk with Him or not.

I choose to abide in Christ and remain faithful to the Father by listening to the Holy Spirit.

These last several years I have been deep sea diving. For me, God has been reassuring me of His presence. He speaks and I am seeing. Two areas that He has revealed Himself in the most wonderful ways is 1. learning how to abide in Christ all the time, and 2. learning the power behind a disciplined mindset. Just the other day I wrote in my journal, “FINALLY LORD! I am experiencing the amplified version of Philippians 3:10 on a deeper level. The dichotomy between Your Presence and my flesh is closing! You are answering my prayers.”

Here’s the Amplified version of Philippians 3:10: “And this, so that I may know Him (experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His person more completely) and (in that same way experience) the power of His resurrection (which overflows and is active in believers), and (that I may share) the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed (inwardly into His likeness even) to His death (dying as He did).” (taken from biblegateway.com)

The bolded words have been what my heart searches for. Through the last several decades of walking with Christ, God has been leading me deeper and deeper into the dark waters of the unknown, and what I have discovered is this: Jesus Christ never leaves me and He is constantly working in my life and everyone else’s to bring about redemption and sanctification. The deeper Jesus and I go, the clearer I hear the Holy Spirit and the greater the understanding of what God is doing.

I am finding that deep sea diving isn’t so bad, when the Lord is with me.

In Revelation 2 and 3, you read about seven churches. Jesus gives a report of how they are abiding in the ways of the Lord. To each church, the same statement is given and it deserves immediate attention! “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches (that’s every believer).”

Deep sea diving with God requires a commitment on your part to not only believe God the Father, but to receive Jesus Christ. You must surrender your life over to Him. You must confess your sins and repent. You much change the way you live as well as how you think, AND you must listen and do what the Holy Spirit tells you. THEN, you will experience the power of His resurrection!

As you get ready to celebrate Jesus’ birthday, would you be willing to try deep sea diving? You might as well get in the water, for this is the only way God leads His children by faith. You can liken one’s faith journey as the refiner’s fire too; see Zechariah 13:9 and 1 Peter 1:7. Be willing to see your sins, and as you face them by the blood of the Lamb, God removes your iniquities and fills you with His presence. From there, the Spirit leads you on a holy path fit for His Kingdom.

Either way, by water or fire, you will come out trusting the most amazing, loving, tender-hearted Father. What you gain with Him cannot be compared to anything this world offers you. He is worth following.