Rising to the Surface

As I woke up this morning, I had a picture of what I thought was a person being overwhelmed by life. The image was similar to Matthew 14 when Peter walked on water but sank under the waves. In that story, Jesus is so close to Peter as he’s floundering that He is able to reach out and pull Peter back to the surface.

I began to intercede for those feeling overwhelmed and sinking under the waves of life. As God used my imagination to speak to me, I soon realized the person wasn’t sinking as I’d assumed, but rising to the surface!

God spoke through this picture that He was at work bringing people to the surface who have been pulled under in this last season by pain, trials, and discomfort.

“People are not drowning; they are surfacing into entirely new places!”

When I was in Mexico a couple of years back with a group of leaders, we spent one of the afternoons snorkeling around massive reefs. Underwater we found passages in the rocks we could swim through to the other side. It was a beautiful place to snorkel underwater, but to pass through the small caves and openings in the reef underwater, we had to dive deep and swim hard to come up safely.

I remember the feeling of rising to the surface, my lungs burning, knowing that I was about to break through into the sun and warm air.

That’s the feeling the Lord was reminding me of as I prayed over us. Over the last two years, we have all been to some relational, emotional, spiritual, and physical depths where the water was dark and cold and relentlessly pulling us under. But God wants us to see that we’re on the other side of those, and we aren’t sinking! Even though we might still feel underwater, we’re rising!

Kate and I are praying over you that you are coming to the surface because the disappointment, failure, and fear of this last season didn’t drown you. It felt like it would, but here you are! It’s time to surface from under the waves of pain, despair, and fear.

We’re kicking to the surface with you! We’re cheering you on as you hold your breath for a few more beats as God pulls you up and out of the waves. Believe this with us and pray it over us as well!