Friday, June 19, 2009

Sinking Sand

“The deeper you search into God, the more you find out about you”. That’s a quote from Cathy Ann Tittle and a very profound statement.
I have been experiencing this very thing in my own life. Some of what I’m learning about myself I like and some not so much. The deeper you go the more intense it gets and you can say “when” at any point, it won’t change anything in your relationship with the Lord concerning how much He loves you or your place in eternity. As for me I have not been able to say “when” yet.
I have a new appreciation for the story in the Bible where some of the followers of Jesus decided they had enough and were turning back. Jesus asks His disciples if they are going to leave Him too and they reply, and go where, where would we go?
Every time I ask the Lord to show me more about Him and our walk together it’s a new experience. The best way to describe the feeling is to give you a visual.
I’m a bit scared of the water so when I go to the beach I’m not one of those people that just runs into the ocean. I proceed with caution to say the least. You know when you’re standing in the ocean maybe up to your calf and the tide goes out and in, the sand starts to move and your feet start getting buried in it. At first you feel like your losing your footing as the earth moves under your feet. When a wave hits you have to stand strong so you don’t fall over but after a few minutes you get your balance and you begin to stand firm. It’s not until you move to another spot that the process starts over again. That’s what it’s like for me in my journey. Each new place the Lord brings me I have to get my footing all over again. Each new place we stop I get a bit nervous like I’m going to fall, my heart quickens and I have to get my bearings. The sand starts sinking. I’m on unfamiliar ground and I have to remind myself the foundation is still the same.
It’s a weird sensation as part of me wants to stay put when I get comfortable and part of me thinks, well you made it this far why not try a little deeper. Every step requires more faith. Will I fall over? What if the water covers me how long can I stay under? Are there sharks out here? Will someone see me if I start to drown? When I look back and see the beach I realize I have conquered that part and made it into the water. I don’t want to go back to just standing at the shoreline I want to get in.
Sometimes the sand gets so hot you have to get in the water. I believe sometimes the Lord allows our circumstances to get “hot” so we will move.
Daniel understood this experience, not that I’m comparing myself to Daniel just the explanation. In Daniel 10:5-7 Daniel is describing an angel that appears before him and his friends but only he saw it. The verses tell us that his friends were so overcome with terror they ran and hid.
This shows us that there are times when the Lord shows you something that your friends don’t see. I wonder what his friends did see or feel that scared them so bad they took off running and hid. Sometimes our lives scare the people around us and they distance themselves from us. The circumstances don’t change the reality just how we go through it, with people or alone. Why did God pick Daniel? The reason is found in verse 12: do not be afraid Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
You see Daniel asked God for more understanding, he asked to go deeper and God was answering his call. Don’t you think as his feet were going into this new “sand” he was freaking out a bit. The Bible tells us he fainted!
Daniel asked for more understanding and apparently his friends didn’t so only he had the experience. The angel goes onto give him an extraordinary vision about the future.
I’m sure there were only two groups of people in Daniels life, those that believed him and those that didn’t. That hasn’t’ changed through out the ages.
The bottom line is if you’re asking God for new revelations and are willing to stand in the sand of uncertainty for a while God will answer your call too. They key of course is to stay humble. Just because God is showing you something doesn’t mean He’s showing everyone the same thing, we all have our own beach.
I have found in my own personal walk the deeper you go the less people are swimming in your ocean. Just like at the beach when the life guard starts blowing his whistle that someone is out too far it’s usually just one person he’s waving in. Who decides what’s too far? The person that has to save you does and the beauty about our life guard is there is no too far.
I’m not trying to sound like some super Christian here cause I’m not. I still wanna faint each time we go deeper and I don’t always get things right the first time but I wouldn’t give up the swim for anything. I’m going to the beach with Jesus and I’m going keep stepping on His foundation cause all other ground is sinking sand 



Gena’s Jewels

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