Hello Everyone,
I’m back from training camp and what a life changing experience it was. Today, I want to share one of the most impactful lessons from training camp I gathered…
When we look at the Israelites we can see that several of them missed out on God’s promise because they were not willing to go where God was taking them. We also see God asking them to trust Him before He shows up for them; stories like the Israelites crossing into the promise land and capturing Jericho reveal this about God’s character. He seems to really care about obedience and frequently invites us in to choose it.
At training camp, God was quick to address what I already chose and praised me for it, but He was even quicker to reveal all the ways I still hadn’t chosen Him or obedience.
The first night of worship a teammate spoke of a vision she had of me on a swing set digging my feet into the ground while refusing to let anyone push me. At first this imagery did not make much sense, yet as the days went by I began to understand it…
There were places I refused to let God take me to and even deeper places of hurt and sorrow I hadn’t ever touched. I wanted to push myself on the swing; I didn’t want anyone’s help, but God knew otherwise. He wanted to help me and He wanted to know if I would trust Him with being so close.
This was all really hard. I didn’t want to face the unforgiveness, pain, bitterness, and lies I had chose to believe as truth. It was easier to leave them be and “handle” them myself. I had partnered with the lies and let them bind me.
However, God knew the beauty He wanted to recover underneath all the filth. He remembered who He made and was willingly to get dirty to free me. He had so much more for me than what I chose,and began to paint me a new world I could live in these past ten days!
Ephesians 2: 10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
See, for some fleshly reason I/we chose lies while growing up and, as a result, we function out of those lies, and we can do this even while following Jesus. His grace and mercy is enough to overcome them all, but if we are not willingly to forfeit them up to Him we will remain apart from Him. We chose the barren, desolate desert (unforgiveness, hurt, pain) that kills us slowly instead of choosing the rich water that gives us life, freedom, and breath (lets look at like an ocean). The desert will smoother us in shame while the ocean will lead us into something unknown full of life and wonder.
Remaining in the desert or stepping into the ocean is our choice. It is like the Israelites crossing into the promise land, for if they never stepped into the river God could have never pulled back the river for them to cross. He is waiting for our obedience and He will not step in without permission. God is giving us a choice.
So fellow friends,
Are you sitting in a barren desert you made for yourself because of the unforgiveness and shame you carry? Are you willingly to let it all go? Are you willing to leave it behind and step into the ocean? Are you willing to let the undertow take you deep into the ocean… to the unknown, to the dark, to the deep…
If you are, let me encourage you, because I left my barren desert last week to return no longer…
Jesus is there! He is with you in your desert and in the deep waters of the sea. He is present and with you. Jesus is here. Just ask Him to help you and lead you, for He will. He is a good, good friend, and God is a good, good father. God desires to have you with Him fully and safe in His arms. Get up beloved daughter or son and step into the sea where the undertow can sweep you away into His rich love, mercy, grace, and freedom. He is with you child of God!
Leave behind the unforgiveness, anger, lies, and shame
Let His love be enough
Let it pull you out into the water
Let the undertow take you far out into the sea
Let the unknown and power cleanse you
And let the wonder and surrender free you
Stay, stay out in the deep depths of the sea
A place where you always can be
