Going Deep......

Yesterday God had me write about not running from the "valleys" of life and allowing yourself to be refined by the "fire" when you find yourself in it. Our human nature is to move out of this place when it feels uncomfortable, but God wants us to endure and work through it with Him so He can make us look more like Him on the other side of the hardship.
Today I felt like God was pressing on my heart the word DEPTH. He began to press this on me late last night, which is different because I normally don't know what I am going to write until the moment I sit down to write. However, last night He was showing me a vision of people on a beach. How everyone likes the water. Everyone wants to experience the water. That jumping in to swim is refreshing and fun. Even the fellowship with others is great when you are swimming with a bunch of people. But then He showed me that not everyone wants to go out where gets deep. That the crowd will begin to thin out for the people who want to go out and swim where it's deep. The risk is greater....and the fear can be greater too. The mind will start to play the "what if" game and some people just want to stay in the shallow water where it feels safe. But then God showed me another group of people.... An even smaller group who not only want to go out where the water is deep, but they want to dive down in it. They want to experience the depth of the water. Again, not a place that a lot of people want to go. Even if they go out in the deeper water, they still want to stay near the top because of the safety that comes along with that. But when you decide to dive down into the depths of the water you don't get to breath as easily, you start to feel pressure, you have to be willing to force yourself to just keep going. Yes, you know that when you come back to the top there will be a breath of fresh air waiting for you, but you may have a go a little bit without that "fresh air" and experience that pressure all around you if you want to really experience the depths of the water and see what things are really like down there.
As God was showing me all of these things He was saying "this is what I see out of my people all the time. There are some that will swim in the waters with Me. They want a relationship with Me, but they will never go beyond the surface part of that. They are going to stay in the "shallow water" and never swim out into the "deep water" and trust Me. Then there are other's who, when I call them, will go out into the waters. They will trust Me, but they too have their limits. I call them to go deeper, but they say "this is not for me God" and swim back to where it is safe.... Then there are ones that are willing to risk it all for Me. They leave the safeties and securities of life that makes everyone comfortable and they will go where I call them. Yes they know that the deeper I call them the more pressure they may feel all around them, but they know the reward.....They know they are going experience things in the "deep" with Me that not everyone gets to experience. And they will never be the same! They are the difference makers...they desire what I desire....they will risk it all to go deep with Me."
God calls us all....but not all will go. Will you? Will you leave the comforts of the shallow water and go as deep as He calls you to go? Knowing that there will be moments of discomfort...you will have to be in complete trust of Him....and you may have to be in the minority to go where He wants you to go? BUT....know that the experience with Him will be like nothing else you will ever find.
God....call us into the deep with You. Help us to overcome our fears and leave our comforts behind when necessary so we can experience all that You have to offer us. Help us to overcome the lies of the enemy and just step out in faith to go WHEREVER You call us to go. Take us to the place where we can lead others, bring honor and glory to Your name and be the difference makers. In Jesus name, Amen.