In Over My Head - A Devotion

Psalm 69:1-3 (NLT)

Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck.Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me. I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me.

 

There are many situations where I find myself over my head particularly when I have chosen to go on my own rather than seeking the Word of God and counsel of His Spirit for direction. The many times when I think “I’ve got this it’s really no big deal” that turn into major life interruptions or bumps in the road seem to overwhelm and overtake me more than I would like to admit. The walk of faith is a tough one when the world keeps piling our hearts and lives high with the things it deems important. It is hard to find the Lord in the midst of the clutter. While we try to keep it all together, it becomes apparent that we are sinking fast. The Living Water in our life has been replaced with floodwaters that are quickly rising. Feet firmly planted in the “mire” of this world cannot rise above it. Exhausted, weeping and waiting on God, we wonder how did this happen? We are all just one step away from drowning. Sin is never less of a risk after we are saved. In fact, sometimes it seems even more enticing once we are. Freedom allows us to live in fulfillment thinking the things of our past no longer can hold us down. Do not be deceived just because you can swim does not mean that you cannot be taken under by a rouge undercurrent along the way. No one is too saved to get stuck or too religious not to do wrong. When our foothold of faith is compromised, pride lends a hand to support our position. It is only a temporary fix. These are the times when all seems lost that we have worked so hard for. In these moments, attempts at holiness, righteousness and obedience seem futile. But do not give up. God is not going to allow you to go under.

 

Psalm 69:13-15 (NLT)

But I keep praying to you, Lord, hoping this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation. Rescue me from the mud; don’t let me sink any deeper! Save me from those who hate me and pull me from these deep waters. Don’t let the floods overwhelm me or the deep waters swallow me or the pit of death devour me.

 

Times when we only look away for a second to find that we are in trouble happen to everyone! It doesn’t make you a failure, it makes you human. Letting our guard down is a natural response in the midst of comfort. God’s Favor is all around you. It is a deep well provided by Jesus Christ who is Living Water and will satisfy all who thirst. We must learn to draw from a well that is deeper than anything that we have ever experienced but it requires faith. Faith is all about what we cannot see and has very little to do with what we do see. Why would we hope for something we already have? However, in the midst of such an endeavor should you look away for just a moment it will indeed feel as though you are sinking. Just ask Peter. When he walked on the water, he only looked at the waves for an instant and down he went. Like David, everyone desires confirmation of sure salvation. In the midst of circumstances, we call out for God to be our rescuer. We ask Jesus to save us…from the situation and seldom for a lifetime when faces with trouble. But God has a much deeper love idea. He doesn’t want to pull you from the “deep waters” but the Lord is teaching you how to be filled with it. Deep calls out to deep. The depth of God’s Love lives in you and is crying out to be replenished from the inside out. You are not drowning or sinking. In fact, you are about to be blessed. It is just necessary to get the Goodness of God residing in you out!

 

Psalm 42:7-8 (NKJV)

Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me. The Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime and in the night His song shall be with me—a prayer to the God of my life.

 

As God’s Word washes over your life, you become a new creation. We have fasted many times over the course of the last several years. Several years ago, I was addicted to soda. I would drink it all day long as a mainstay. Surely dehydration would have taken over if we ever ran out of an adequate supply. After fasting a couple of times, I switched to diet soda which really helped shed the extra pounds lingering from the last couple of kids. Following another fast which included no soda, I never picked it up again choosing water, teas or juices. I guess I have lost my taste for soft drinks now. It would seem that is how God has worked out the things in my life that are distasteful to Him as well. Removing what I used to desire and replacing it with His Goodness until I desire His Best rather than all the rest. Deep is not a place of devastation or deprivation, it is a place of abundance. God is calling you to His Best Blessing for your life. He invites you to partake of His Favor. God’s Love and Care for His Children is overwhelming and all-consuming. He has been trying to GIVE us His Best. Yet people refuse to receive it instead attempting to work out their own salvation and set parameters around the Love of God for their life. God is not calling you to sink or swim. He is not going to allow the deep to overtake you.

 

Isaiah 43:2-3a (NLT)

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

 

God promises to be with you when you go through adversity and face opposition. He will never leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6) Faith secures God in every situation of your life making Him the One who holds your hope and taking away any doubt that you will live and not die. You will get in deep water. You will go through rivers of difficulty. Your will walk through fiery trials. It is all a part of life. But these are not the times when we find God, these are the times we test our faith in the Lord. He was there all the time. God never intended to absent from His People. However, His People have fickle hearts and leave Him time and time again. When you are in over your head, God is calling to the deep that resides inside of you. He is calling His Word into your remembrance. He is massaging your heart into action once more to love Him and seek His Face. God is never going to let you drown in deep water but is drawing it out. Proverbs 20:5 says, “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water…” You are filled with Living Water with boundaries you will never fully comprehend while alive on this earth. This verse goes on to reveal that “understanding will draw it out.” Knowledge without wisdom is useless. If you cannot apply faith to your life, what good is it? Why not seek the Face of God before the test or trial? Why not draw out understanding without it being your only choice and lifeline for survival? Deep is crying out to deep today – He is calling your name.

 

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (NLT)

“The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.”

 

God demonstrated His Giving Nature to the Children of Israel. He did not give them a piece of vacant property and tell them to have at it. No, like the Garden of Eden, it would be fully stocked and prepared ready for them to simply move in and dwell there. There would be cities they did not build. Houses fully stocked with things they did not produce with water flowing from wells that they did not dig and food they did not plant. They would be full and satisfied in this place. All God required was this: Do not forget me. Deep calls out to deep. In the midst of living your life in the Goodness and Grace that I have provided, the Lord is whispering today – Do not forget me! I rescued you! I put you here. However the cold and callus truth is that most of the time, people only remember the Lord when the next trial comes or circumstance arises. They reach for Him only when overwhelmed and without hope. God never intended for His People to live empty lives. It is evident in His Provision. However, when we fail to remember the Lord in the midst of prosperity and peace, it is a probable we will be in over our head in no time at all as God seeks the heart of those He loves.

 

John 4:11-14 (NLT)
“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”  Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

 

The woman at the well clearly was in over her head. Her presence all alone without the other women indicated a social problem. Her living situation indicated relational problems. Being a Samaritan represented a religious problem. This girl had some real issues. So who did Jesus ask for a drink? The woman with all the problems, of course. Jesus knew she was desperate to be satisfied and would accept Living Water. She understood what it meant to be without a rope or bucket because she was out of options. Jesus changed her life. Why do we have to get backed into a corner or in over our head to give Jesus the chance to fill us with Living Water? Why can’t we live in daily expectancy of renewing and restoration by a Loving and Giving Savior who has never held anything back from the ones who He loves? Instead, we chase the world for momentary satisfaction and immediate gratification when faith takes too long and hope falls short because of doubt. This has never been God’s Intent or His Plan! Deep is calling deep today. Waders will not make it only those who will dive headfirst into His Love will experience how high, deep and wide it really is!

 

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT)

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing fruit.”

Those who choose to dwell in the Blessing of God will still get in over their head as God draws out understanding from the Living Water inside of you. However, those who choose to invest the Word in their life and live by the Spirit will seldom find themselves overwhelmed by anything except His Love and Goodness over their life. They will fall into His Favor simply by the way they live as they walk by faith and not by sight. Labor will be in vain as He continually provides for His People beyond anything they will ever produce themselves. Deep is calling out to deep today – He is calling you! Reach up your hands that are heavy laden and drop everything you are doing to fully embrace what He is doing in your life. Lift your head to where your help comes from – it is the Lord. Answer the call of the deep today – He is most definitely calling you!

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