Puddle or Pond or....
Recently, I found myself driving back and forth to the town next ours more than usual. Between the two towns is a little river called The Big Sandy.
I tend to look at the same things over and over again as I drive and on the right side of the road, just before I get to the bridge crossing that river is some standing water. Except for when we are experiencing drought there always seems to be some water there. I must have seen that water every time I drove back and forth.
I looked at it the other day and thought, “I wonder if that is a puddle or a pond.” As soon as I did I could hear the Lord speak to me deep inside my heart. He said, “Are YOU a puddle or a pond?”
From what I can tell, there are two differences between puddles and ponds. The first is that a puddle is generally shallow; whereas, a pond is deeper. The second is that puddles tend to be naturally occurring due to rain collecting and/or water leftover from flooding; ponds tend to be built intentionally.
I thought, “Am I a puddle or a pond?” I figured the Lord would know, so I asked Him: “Which am I? Am I a puddle or a pond?”
A flood of thoughts ensued; I can only assume it was the Lord speaking to me since I know He loves speaking to His people.
The realization I came to was that in some ways I have depth….I am a pond regarding those things. In other ways, however, I am a puddle. In other words, spiritually, though I have depth in some things I am shallow in others.
Perhaps you can see this in yourself as well.
I did not enjoy realizing this. I never have wanted to be spiritually shallow and have tried to immerse myself in God’s Word….learning and teaching it, applying it…loving His Word. I have, likewise, tried to crowd into God, praying and listening to Him. I try to practice deeper fellowship with God all the time. I think I am improving in this way.
Still………………I am a puddle AND a pond.
So, I prayed as I drove. I told God things. I told Him I wasn’t satisfied with any spiritual shallowness in my life.
And, I listened.
Here is what came to me:
“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me.” (Psalm 42:7)
The word “deep” in that verse refers to a “surging mass of water especially in the sea or a subterranean water supply.”
I thought that I would prefer to be a “spiritual pond” in every area of my life than a “puddle”. I began to ask the Lord to intentionally make me into a pond. I wanted to be deeper.
Then I thought, “God can do anything. Why couldn’t He make me deeper?”
That was when I realized that I get to decide how deep I want to go.
After listing some of the more dangerous things that people do to hurt themselves and others (lust, murder, coveting, fighting and warring) that take us off task with distractions from devotion to and dependency upon God, James says this to us:
“…you do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:2b)
This is a basic Bible fact: if we do not ask God for them…He will not offer things to us. I believe He responds to our true hunger because He loves us; however, He does want us to be active in this and not passive. He doesn’t want us to be like little birds sitting with our mouths open…waiting for momma to drop food in our mouths. (If He did, He would have made us to be little birds.)
We have to ask. We must, though, have our priorities straight.
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:2b-3)
Do we want to go deeper with God so we can impress others? Do we want to go deeper with Him just so we can have more money, stuff, admiration from people, power, etc.? If so, we will not receive…because when we do that we ask amiss (in a morally sick way).
It would be good for us to cry out to God for Him to take us deeper just to be immersed in Him more and more. In James 4:8 we are told that we are to…
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8a)
Shouldn’t being experientially closer to God be enough? I think so.
So, having examined my motives, I asked God to make me a spiritual pond – to intentionally dig me deep and fill me with Him.
And, then this thought came to me: “He made the seas on the earth. Why couldn’t He do thatin me?” Why couldn’t I be as deep as the sea?!?!”
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:7-10)
I changed my prayer.
I am asking Father God to dig me as deep as the sea and, further, to fill me with Himself.
I don’t know where this will lead but I sense that it will be an adventure….and a good one. I just know that I’m not satisfied with the status quo; I want to experience more of God.
What about you? Are you completely satisfied with where you are with the Lord? Or is there a gnawing sensation deep inside you? If so, that’s a signal that the LORD knows there is more.
There is coming a time….and it may be here already…in which it is no longer satisfactory in the Lord’s eyes that so many of us are like those baby birds sitting in the nests with our beaks open wide….hoping momma will drop some food in our mouths.
Its time for us to be SO HUNGRY for God and what He has for us that we stop waiting for someone to throw tidbits of reheated spiritual leftovers our way and we go hunting for God’s best for us ourselves.
Join me and so many others as we ask the Lord to lead us to where we are to sup….with Him.
(Jesus speaking) “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
This is not an evangelistic verse. This is written to Christians just like us.
Jesus is knocking. Will we let Him into all the areas of our lives and let Him take us as deep as HE wants for us to experience?
We shall see.
We can know what a person really wants to do…..it’s what he, ultimately, does.
The Lord bless you this day and all the days of your life.
Pastor Mike McInerney
Mike McInerney Ministries, Inc.
Decatur, TX 76234
© February 8, 2016
(For use with permission)