Our mouths were watering for a doughnut of choice and a flavorful cup of coffee, but as we drove into the parking lot, the workers were closing up shop.
What? Dunkin' Donuts closes at 9:00 pm on a Friday night? You've got to be kidding me!
We frantically looked around and discovered an IHOP (International House of Pancakes) opened for business right down the street. We got back in our cars and wheeled on over to the next parking lot.
Ten women in dire need of caffeine and sugar do not need to be told, "We're closed."
As we sat sipping our coffee and eating our sugary treats, we began talking about our first session of the "Into the Deep" Women's Summer Experience taught by Denise H. Jones of Reclaiming Hearts Ministries.
We were challenged all weekend to go deeper with God - to trust Him to uncover the deeper truths of His Word, to take the next step into a deeper faith, towards deeper transformation, and striving for a deeper affect on people and our culture.
Exhilaration only comes with the unexpected.
Since I was not expecting to go to IHOP, I have reworded its acronym: Into His Omni Presence. (Omni meaning all.) We can experience the deeper, exhilarating wonders of God when we allow Him to be all present in our lives, surrendering our wants and desires to His better plan.
I remember as a child, my daddy would step into the deeper part of the lake, where it was over my head, and invite me to jump. Because I trusted my daddy to bring me no harm, I jumped. Sometimes I went under and surged back up to the surface with a startled look on my face. But in just moments, my surprise turned to exhilaration and I would yell, "Do it again, daddy! Do it again!"
For God's children to experience the exhilaration of pure, holy joy, we must first learn to trust Him wholeheartedly, and jump into the deep - realizing that His plan for us is good in all things; never causing us harm, but always giving us a future and real hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Many Christians I come in contact with are only skimming the surface of what God has for them. Some have their toes in the water and others are still sitting in fear by the water's edge refusing to go in at all. I sometimes want to scream, "Get in. You'll love it!"
But then I remember that God is constantly inviting us all from wherever we are to go deeper still.
During our teaching sessions, Denise took us deeper into the fishing boat scene in Luke chapter 5.
Peter, James, and John had been up all night fishing without even a sand trout to account for. Knowing their predicament, Jesus invites them to cast their nets in deeper water.
They did. They acted on faith. The result? There were so many fish that the weight of their catch began to break the nets. With more than they could handle, they called more friends over to come help them, spilling the joy of their faith over into their fellow fishermen's lives.
Our going deeper benefits those around us.
Peter didn't have to go deeper, though. He could have just waited for the next day's fishing excursion, but instead, he decided to trust Jesus with his lively hood and cast into the deep.
Exhilaration was the state of mind as the fishermen brought in the catch, but Peter also had a new state of heart. He saw Jesus as someone he wanted to know better, to go deeper with. Deeper in trust. Deeper in faith.
He asked Jesus to command him to step out of the boat and onto the water.
Jesus invites him to come deeper, and Peter steps out of the boat and onto the water in faith. Say what you want about Peter's doubting and sinking, but he was the only one who got out of the boat, and Peter's faith continues to benefit generation after generation, and will continue to until Jesus comes again.
Leaving everything behind, Peter surrendered and followed Jesus out into the deep with His whole heart. He only began to sink when he took his eyes off of Jesus and put them on his circumstances. When he called for Jesus to help him, Jesus didn't hesitate. He lifted him up.
Jesus is always inviting us to go deeper, to trust Him more, to walk with a stronger faith, discovering more about Him through the details of our lives.
What are we waiting for? Exhilaration awaits!
My Pleasure,
Melanie
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