Leaving the Shallows Behind
From the outside looking in, my girl Cindy appears to be auditioning for the role of Wonder Woman in an upcoming movie. She’s caring for an ailing sister and a near-100-year-old mother – who both just happen to live in a different location than Cindy. She’s a proud grandmother to a group of beautiful, active grandkiddos, and she’s one of their biggest fans. In fact, proof of the matter can be found in her calendar, filled with games, tournaments, and meets. Did I mention that she has a fantastic husband and that her marriage is high on her priority list? Oh – and she also has a very successful career. My girl Cindy is busy! As it turns out she’s also tired. Imagine that.
I ran into Cindy at church a couple of months ago. She was smiling and sweet – that’s just who Cindy is. But she did appear to be a little weary. When I asked how I could pray for her, she requested prayers for a return to her routine of rich time with the Lord. She had been away from home, and caring for her sister and mom had consumed her. When she had returned home, catching up with responsibilities, job, and family had kept her from re-engaging with God to the degree she’d enjoyed in calmer seasons. The Wonder Woman cape was getting heavy.
I prayed regularly for Cindy and checked in with her a little later. When I asked her how she’d been doing, she kindly replied that she’d been feeling the power of God’s answer to those prayers. Her words that followed were so transparent, beautifully honest – and personally convicting. She mentioned choices that had taken her to “the shallows, not the depths.” She asked for prayer for “discipline to take every thought captive and to cling to the Lord” as her desire was to “finish well.”
Humbled by Cindy? I know I sure was! I, too, have made decisions that have drawn me further from rather than nearer to God. In my case, I’ve avoided challenging myself – sometimes out of weariness, but just as often out of apathy or laziness. I’ve had to refocus and be brutally honest with myself. Do I truly desire to finish well? Am I willing to put in the work to submit every thought, word, and deed to the Lord and to cling to Him as my only Hope, Support, and Strength?
What I do know more surely than anything is that Jesus is worth it! I’m not muscling up to earn His approval and love. I’m priming myself to hear His voice, to trust His leading, and to obey His commands. He is my King, and I’m His ambassador.
May my prayer echo my friend Cindy’s prayer – to leave the shallows behind and to have the faith to pursue the depths of the knowledge of my God. With all the time of eternity, I won’t even scratch the surface of all that He is and all that He’s capable of! Glory to our great God! I’m diving in!
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“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?’ ‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay Him?’ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” – Romans 11:33-36
