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While
in San Diego visiting our son Zachary, we had the opportunity to go scuba
diving at La Jolla beach. Getting out through the surf with all that
heavy gear proved to be a challenge. One wave caused my tank to hit
the back of my head. The surge of the surf made for slow going.
Getting out beyond the pounding breakers to where we could dive was hard
work. It felt like we were making very slow progress, being held
back by the incoming tide. However, knowing that a wonderful diving
experience was just beyond those thrashing waves motivated us to press on.
We knew that the hard work in getting there would magnify the joy of the
diving experience. A bit like the journey in following Jesus,
I think. The world’s troubling waves just keep pounding but we know
there is unending joy beyond the current surf, deeper mysteries yet to be
discovered from the heart of God.
We made it to a good spot and prepared to make our decent into the deeper water when we discovered that our wetsuits made us too buoyant. We needed more diving weights in order to submerge into the depths. Zachary, in better shape than me, headed back to shore to get more weights while I floated around rather aimlessly. It didn’t take him long, and it was rather symbolic when he handed me the weights, like sharing the burdens he had brought with him. Because I took more of his weights, we were both able to experience a wonderful dive together where mysteries abound in the depths beneath the surface. I have often related the Christian life to scuba diving; there are always deeper places into the Word and the heart of God, mysteries to be discovered and profound beauty below the surface of things. It takes weights to get there. Sometimes the burdens we carry aren’t to be thrown off but shared with others and embraced to get us beneath the surface in the ocean of the deeper life. Sometimes the things that weigh us down are the very things necessary in God’s economy to take us deeper. May those things that seem heavy be the things that take us deeper in faith. “….but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Cor 2:10-11). Home / Back to Main Devotional / More Devotionals |