Come into the Deep with Me!

The Call

The term ‘In the deep with God’ came up in a conversation this week and Leola had some questions for God about that. What is the deep with You and how does one get into the deep? How do I know when I am in the deep? Do You tell me I am deep? Is it a feeling? Leola ponders these questions as she reads Psalm 91. If the deep means the secret place, is she there? Is deep the same for everyone? Can I ask people what deep means and get the same answer each time? Are You so predictable? Can I find the answer to these questions in Your Word? Leola ponders this Psalm against the term ‘deep’ and the ‘secret place’ talked about in this Psalm. She knows about having a secret place with God because she has one, on her ‘have-to-have-it couch’ staring out the window, but the distraction are becoming too much for her to stay in that secret place for too long. She needs alone time with Him to stay in the secret place long enough to hear God speak. Her call to the deep. At first she went out onto the back patio but when winter came it was to cold so she sat on her bed which turns out to be most uncomfortable. She knew God was calling her into ‘the deep’ (whatever that was) and she had to go alone. Her house is teaming with people so what can she do?

The chaos in the house is definitely holding Leola back from going deep with Jesus. There is nowhere to sit and read her Bible except the living room or her bed. She needs her own space. Her older kids had moved out but there was too much stuff in the house for her to have her own personal space. Leola had some organizing and purging to do. When a space was available Sam and Leola went shopping for what she now calls her ‘Jesus chair’. She converted one of the bedrooms into a ‘deep room’ she could go to be alone. She bought shelves for her many books and a carpet for her cold toes. She positioned the chair to look out the window because staring out the window is her secret place with Jesus and continues even to this day. If you see Leola staring out a window you know she is pondering something deep with God in their secret place.

The secret place from Psalm 91 and ‘the deep’ are two different things. Preachers talk about going deep with Jesus but what exactly do they mean? They get it from 1 Corinthians 2:10 which says the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. The Spirit who lives deep within us holding the deep things of God in His hand for us to take. The secret place referred to in Psalm 91 is the place you go to be alone with Jesus where you can hear Him speak. If you do not have a secret place you will not hear the call to the deep. As a new Christian I thought it was a physical place (and it was for me for a while) but as I matured I learned it is anywhere I am that I can hear God speak to me. The secret place is nowhere in particular and everywhere with God. The deep things of God can only be revealed in that secret place. This was confusing to me until I had my secret place modified into my secret alone place. I needed to be alone with Jesus to be able to ponder the deep place or even the deep things of God. It would still be years before all of it would come together for me. My secret place with Jesus can happen anytime He speaks to me no matter where I am and the deep is where I go when I study who He is.

The Deep

Leola was called into the deep with Jesus. She had to learn what that meant for her. It is in this quest for the deep with Jesus she learned of her own individuality. She learned what her purpose was for being in this world at this time. She learned Jesus actually saw her and she wasn’t invisible to Him. She learned her emotional pain was real and needed healing. Her wounds were deep and the healing needed to be deep. Surface fixes were not working but she didn’t know she was so shallow until she went deep. Up to this point she was wading in the Waters of God listening to people explain His Word. His deep calls for her to stop getting her information from people to hearing it from Him alone. She would have to learn to ponder His Word with Him and wait for the answer. As difficult as it was to do she learned how to do it and how fulfilling it was to know what He was teaching. What she was learning in the secret place had to remain a secret until she went deep with God for a full understanding. She would even talk out loud to Him as if He was standing right on the other side of the window. She cannot get over knowing Jesus deeply enough to ask any question and get an almost instant answer. If an answer doesn’t come quickly there is more to learn so she waits patiently to learn the answer. In her secret place where deepness is she learned she is not the only one called to the deep, all Christians are called to the deep but not all will go. Leola went and never looked back.

Jesus went to be alone with the Father (called to the deep) and He took the disciples to be alone with Him too (He called them to the deep). He pulled Saul away for three years to teach Him the deep things of God. The deep things of God cannot be found in a sermon or glancing through the Bible. They are found in your secret place deep inside you and God. This, unfortunately, is also where your deepest pain resides but also where the deepest knowledge of God resides. I understand not wanting to go there but if you choose not to go deep you are also choosing not to have a deep relationship with Jesus. When He calls you into the deep it is going to be painful but life altering. It is going to unnerve you but it is where the new creation of you resides. It is where the Spiritual Gifts you have get their power to reveal Jesus to those you serve. It is where your life as a Christian soldier marches onward. Deep death takes place and a deep life emerges for and with Jesus. He is calling you to die a deep death so you can live a deep life. I promise you, the pain is nothing compared to the joy! Will you go deep with me?

Meditation Verse for this week: Psalm 91; Psalm 42; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Luke 5:4