Imagine Jesus leading you. Literally, leading you. Grabbing you by the hand, and walking in a pace that you know you must keep up. Suddenly, you get to the ocean and He dives in holding your hand. As you go deeper and deeper into the ocean, you start to feel the pressure of the water. Your ears start to feel the clogged sensation. You want to feel anxious, but there's no time because you heading deeper and deeper. Into areas of the ocean that you never thought you should go. Fully immersed, out of your environment, uncomfortable, yet….following. In fact, you want to follow. You NEED to follow. You know that where Jesus is leading you, it will be good. And it will be life changing. You can't help but to feel safe. You have chosen to follow Jesus into the deep. Where others may have turned and swam to the surface, you keep following. No matter what, you make up your mind. I WILL go where He leads me. No fear. No shame. No hesitation. You will go deep or you won't go at all.
This vision was shared to my church a few weeks ago. And it pierced my heart. I imagined myself, a person who can't swim naturally going deep with Jesus. It scared me for a moment, then it filled me with an unimaginable thrill and hope. I began to ask myself….
Would you go deep with Jesus?
Will you make a choice to follow when it's not easy?
Will you go into the "unknown things" knowing that God would protect you?
My friends, would you follow Jesus into the deep?
In my life, I've come to learn that my comfort zone will not allow me to grow. In this vision, I can imagine it was fairly easy to follow Jesus when walking the land. I can fathom that there would be plenty to learn from Him while walking the land. But at a certain point, there was a moment of "how far will I let Him lead me…"
It's easy to follow Jesus when things are going "just so". But the true test of faith is will you trust Him when things don't appear to be so clear.
One my favorite bible verses is, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding". (Proverbs 3:5)
What I love about this verse is that it recognizes that OUR understanding is different from HIS understanding. In fact, have you ever stopped and REALLY pondered WHO you are serving.
The Creator of the UNIVERSE.
The One who with words slung stars into the sky, made mountains appear, oceans arise.
The One who always was, always is, and always will be.
This, is not just a regular person on the street that everyone wants you to believe in. This is THE one and ONLY GOD!
Take that in!
When I stop to put things into perspective, I can't help but think…"Where would I not follow Him?"
Certainly, everywhere He leads me will be for MY good and for HIS glory.
So my friends, what is that area of the deep you have been holding back on diving in? Perhaps it's trusting God all the way in your family? Maybe it's jumping into church again after a hurt. Maybe, it's allowing yourself to forgive those who have hurt you so deeply. The Lord is saying, will you go deep with me today? Will you make a choice to follow when it's not so easy.
May your heart say YES today! I can assure you, He won’t lead you anywhere that He knows will crush you. No loving Father would!
You will walk in true victory when you learn to trust the God who never disappoints. Dive in today! You won’t regret it!