Winter 1993

Entering The Depths
Donna Wall

Cradled in a manger, His infant form lay wrapped in swaddling clothes. But not for long ...

Deep within a tomb, pierced and drained of blood, His frame was bound in grave clothes. But not for long ...

Embodied within the cloths of birth and death surged Life to destroy the pangs of death; Light to dispel darkness; and Love to dress the wounds of fallen humanity. He shook off the cradle cloths and came to us, fully paying the penalty for our sin. He laid aside the burial bindings and in resurrection, calls us to intimacy with Himself.

But far too often, we continue to wear the trappings of the past - remnants of tradition.

These shackles of pre-conceived ideas handed down through the traditions of men seem comfortable because we have worn them so long. Yet the Light of His presence, as it penetrates this religious cloak, exposes within us a hidden depth of spiritual desire.

As we move toward the Source of this Light, through layer upon layer of our protective (religious) coverings, the ideas and dogmas which we have embraced begin to lose their fit. For He makes known to us His desire for a vital, active relationship with us, and for our cooperation with Him in the outworking of His purposes.

"Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let
us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the
vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether
the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud
forth: there will I give thee my loves" SS 7:11-12.

We tend to resist intimacy with the Lord. He calls, we hear His voice, but we go only so far and then linger in the shallow places of our experience. Some of us who long to move into the depths of Him are hesitating because He is beckoning us to launch out - "unclothed."

How can we do this while still clad in the clothing of Egypt? We must set aside these coverings which we no longer need (the values and traditions passed down to us by past generations). But why are we so reluctant to shed them?

The Lord is calling us to move out into the depths, free and unburdened. Only as we come to fully trust Him and His provision for us will we be able to obey His call to launch out into the depths of His purpose. Any attempt to venture out into the deep, clothed in the garments of cold formalism would surely be fatal, but for His mercy.

"And it was a river I could not pass over: for the
waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that
could not be passed over" Ezek 47:5b.

Those who have heard this call to launch out into this deeper realm of the Spirit but are reluctant to do so, feel it is easier and safer to stay on the shore and talk about the deep.

Moving through "water" is different than walking on "land." Those whom God has been equipping for the "deep" find themselves moving awkwardly when on the land. They feel out of "place." But once in the "water," they are in their rightful realm. "Waters to swim in" are healing, life giving waters and "everything that liveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live" Ezek 47:9.

The Lord's lambs stand on the shore yearning to experience the deeper things of the Spirit, to move freely in Him and become all He has created them to be. These are searching for mature spiritual leaders who have laid aside religious traditions, and have experienced these depths in God.

When we move into the depths at His command, we will "breathe" of a new life of vision and purpose. We can fully trust Him, for He will never allow us to "sink" as He is our Life Preserver.

As we enter the deep, where only Christ Jesus has been, others on the shore will be encouraged to follow. Here together, we will experience the fullest measure of His Love, as we are engulfed in the depths with Him.

"Deep calleth unto deep. At the noise of thy
waterspouts, all thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me" Psalm 42:7.

We have learned that once He leads us out where He is able to share with us the burden of His purposes to come, He bids us wait.

But not for long ...