There’s this song playing on the Christian radio a lot. You’ve probably heard it. — “
You call me out upon the waters //
The great unknown where feet may fail //
And there I find You in the mystery //
In oceans deep //
My faith will stand //And I will call upon Your name //
And keep my eyes above the waves //
When oceans rise //
My soul will rest in Your embrace //
For I am Yours and You are mine” //
This song – “Oceans” – has lyrics that cause me to think on a very deep level about where my faith is. The lyrics are actually amazing… so poetic, yet holding so much meaning!
We like to think about Peter who walked on the water when Jesus called him. If you’re like me, then you’ve tried to put yourself in his shoes. Would I have done it? Walked on the water to Jesus? Would I have gotten distracted and fearful because of the waves?
Almost five years ago, God told me it was time to head out into uncharted territory. He gave me a vision — not a you’re-not-aware-of-what’s-going-on-around-you-type, but a very clear mental image — of Jesus in a boat, teaching the crowd on shore… and then the crowd dispersed, and I was invited to get into the boat with Him and head out. I wrote in my journal, back in November of 2009:
I feel like I’m on the verge of a deeper level. I feel like I am embarking into it. I’ve pushed off from the shore, and from here on out, it’s uncharted territory. I know there are others also pushing out, and still more who pushed out long before me. So I don’t think I’m going where no one has gone before, by any means.This is uncharted territory because there is no one leading me here. It’s just me and God.And why do I feel like I’m launching into this uncharted territory? I don’t know. I’m having a hard time really pin-pointing why I feel this way. I just think that it’s so. Something in my spirit says I am, and there is no turning back. (How many times have I said that already?)I think that where I go with Him from here is uniquely individual to me, but it is perfectly suited for His plan for me. I am honored and humbled that He has chosen me and called me into this uncharted territory, for it is the same territory that Moses and David and Daniel made their home in. It is awesome and strange to even think that God is inviting me into the same territory they walked in…yet I know He is. I have no desire to lead a nation or advise kings. Yet I do desire to walk with Him as they did. Up until this point of my life, I think I felt like there was this barrier between me and them…between where I was at and where they walked. Perhaps there was. I was still on the shoreline, looking longingly at the sea of glass* that stretches before His throne, but not trusting or dedicated enough to step off of familiar ground. But what I wrote about walking with God in September—Surviving the Experience*—that was an awesome revelation, but I think at that moment it only existed in my mind. Now I feel God whispering the reality of it to me…calling me to come, to walk on the water with Him.So Father, if this is true, then here I am. I am stepping off the shore. I am running toward You. I will dance and worship my way across the sea of glass until the day comes when I can say with Isaiah that I have seen the God of Israel, and the train of His robe filled the temple. And I will cry, with the living creatures and Serephim, “Holy, Holy, Holy!” For that is what I live for, Father God. For You.
This image of being in the boat with Him has stuck with me these last five years. Perhaps this is why the words of this song echo truth deep within my soul.
Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You’ve never failed, and You won’t start now
These last five years have brought me to a place of trusting Him that is beyond anything I could have imagined in my younger Christian days. I say that… and yet I know it would sound foolish if I tried to explain in detail, because I know other Christians have never found it difficult to trust Him on some of the things that have been the biggest struggles for me.
But that’s why our walk with God is a personal thing, isn’t it? He meets us where we’re at, He uses the things He allows into our lives, and He doesn’t expect any of us to walk according to someone else’s path.
My path has continually been one of deeper trust and drawing closer. Perhaps that’s why it was actually the bridge of this song that first spoke to me:
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me…
Those words challenged me. “Lead me where my trust is without borders.” So often, when God asks us if we trust Him, we quantify the answer… sometimes without even realizing it, I think. We say, “Yes I trust You. I ______.” We give an example that’s supposed to prove how much we trust Him. In reality, though, I think that example is really us stating the borders of our trust. “I trust You enough to do this. And no more.” Even if we’re too ashamed or afraid to admit it.
But trust without borders. Is it even possible?
And to walk on the water with Him. Yes, I want to do that! But before I heard this song, I only thought about whether or not I would be able to get out of the boat.
I thought about going where He called me.
But I never thought about putting the two together. I never considered that walking wherever He called me might be all walking on water.
Am I willing? Is my trust deep enough, not just to get out of the boat and walk on the water, but to continue walking wherever He calls me to go?
That’s what’s happening now… for many of us, I believe, for I see echoes of His Spirit and this calling in the faces and words and actions of people around the world who have spent time seeking Him.
God is moving… starting to do something powerful. But it will not be a revival of sensation that makes its way into the news. It may not even have many signs and wonders.
It is deeper. More powerful even than the miracles of healing that we so long to see. Something is happening in the realm of the spirit where only those who walk with Him can go, for there is no way to get there accidentally.
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior…