Deeper

Sunday, our family went to Darwin Wright park to swim in the lake. It's where I have been taking the kids almost every Friday since school let out. The boys have always had fun and look forward to going. They swim and have a wonderful time. I sit in the chair at the edge of the water where I can keep an eye on Lily, and grab her if she goes too far into the water. I don't swim when I take the boys, but inevitably, I end up knee deep with Lily every time we go. This time, Luis came with us, and he headed straight to the water with the boys as soon as we got settled on the beach. It was a hot day, blue sky with big puffy clouds. Ideal weather to be at the lake. I was so excited to show Luis our perfect swimming hole, since he had never been to that part of the Lake yet. I watched as he got in up to his mid-thigh, and then turned around and walked out of the water. He didn't look too thrilled to be swimming, which surprised me, fish that he is. He came back and put his sneakers on, and I asked him what was wrong. "Rocks" he said. "They hurt!" I didn't understand. I thought he was just having an overly sensitive foot issue. So I walked in the lake for myself to see first hand what the big deal was. Unbelievable. When the water reached a height that I had never gotten to before, the bottom was nothing but rocks. Hard, sharp, poking rocks. It was awful, and had it not been for the fact that we are more buoyant the deeper we are in the water, I wouldn't have gone any farther. What a disappointment.

Today, I was thinking about the rocks in the lake. I was thinking back to how the boys never complained about the rocks, and always had such a great time swimming. Thinking back to how I had only gone knee deep until Sunday, and never even knew the stones were there, just a few more feet in front of me. I had such a great opinion of this place, but it was just because I had only exposed myself to the surface and a very shallow portion of the beach. Once I waded in a little deeper, I realized why that beach was never really very crowded, and why people would choose to go to the other side of the lake that was almost a half hour away, and pay $4.00 more to get in. It was interesting how much I liked that place, until I ventured out a little deeper into the water. I had a shallow understanding of what the lake was really like.

How often we misjudge people around us and life in general, when we draw out conclusions from the surface. Often we condemn people without really knowing the whole story of that person's life, without seeing the bigger picture. We judge them based on what seems right to us. On the other hand, sometimes we are quick to make positive assumptions (as I did about the lake) before we take the time to really know who or what we are actually dealing with. Often, it is difficult to get past the surface with some people. I myself am very choosy about giving out too much information about myself too soon, to people I don't really know. It's wise to be cautious, since information is a form of intimacy, and we don't just go around being intimate with everyone we meet. So for the times I come across a situation or person that I really need to see for what or who they truly are, there is a great scripture that says, "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God." (1 Cor. 2:10) God allows us, through His spirit, to discern all things, that which would otherwise stay hidden from us. Even the deep things of God. That is an amazing statement and just one more reason why we should strive to constantly stay filled with and walking in the Spirit.

Likewise, we can not expect to have any kind of real understanding of, or relationship with God, if we keep him at arms length. If our main purpose on this earth is to bring pleasure to the Lord, then we must allow ourselves to be close with Him. Many religions treat God as some sort of trophy or idol that sits high on shelf only to be thought of occasionally or when something is going wrong. Other's feel that God should be revered from a distance, as often they feel unworthy of being too close to the actual presence of the living God. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. God's deepest desire is to break through that surface of religiosity and come into an intimate fellowship with those He loves, those He created-us. He longs to be close to us, but waits on us to make the first move. Like it says in James 4:8 "Draw near to God and He'll draw near to you".

I long for an even deeper relationship with God. I desire to dwell in the secret place of the most High, and abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I am so thankful that I don't have to be perfect to approach God. Once I am forgiven, I know I can come boldly before God, assured that his love for me is eternal and unchanging, and there is nothing I can do or say that makes God love me any more than he already does. It is safe to come close to God. He will never mistreat us, or take advantage of us. We don't need to fear that He will have ulterior motives or use our past against us. We can come to him knowing that everything he is and stands for is truth. How very blessed we are to have a Creator who loves us so completely, and yearns for us to know Him even deeper.