The Call
By Patt Wadenpfuhl, WorldView Int'l - 2007
This column is regularly written by Patt Wadenpfuhl, President of WorldView International
The Call
"An article in the newspaper, some weeks ago, told the strange tale of a northern bottlenose whale that lost its way, and swam up the River Thames. Though whales can be drawn off-course by sickness or injury, or even ship sonar signals, no one is sure what disoriented the 18-foot mammal. As it splashed past Big Ben and the House of Parliament, concerned Brits tried everything to rescue it. Hundreds of people and a mass of television crews lined the riverbank, watching the drama unfold. Despite all efforts to return it to the waters of the Atlantic, the whale died of dehydration and kidney failure. Created for the deeps, it simply couldn't survive in the shallows.
We, too, are created for the deep places of God's eternal Presence. Drawn off course for a variety of reasons - busyness, sin, hardship, selfish desire ... we lose our way and end up in the shallows, distracted and disoriented. Like the whale in the river surrounded by water, we may even be immersed in Christian activity and ministry, yet unable to quench our raging thirst or find our way to the deep places of the Spirit. Before long, our souls shrivel and die in these shallows - because we were created for so much more.
We were created for intimacy with a King.
We were created for relationship and purpose, for beauty and joy.
We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He has
prepared in advance for us to do.
Why then, do we spend our lives in the shallows of cultural expectations - wearing the right things, driving the right car, buying the right house, attending the right functions? Why do we feed on surface stuff that amuses, numbs, distracts, but never fulfills?
The good news is that the King is always calling His people out of the shallows and into the depths of His loving heart. No one ever need languish there.
"Follow me" He calls, "to the place of unbridled passion and radical abandonment, to the place of self-emptying and unconditional surrender."
"Come to Me," He whispers, as He beckons us to that deep, inward place where He waits for us. Some call it an inner stream, others a table set for two. Whatever the metaphor, in this place of quiet closeness we learn to let Him love us to death. The truth is this: we can have as much of Jesus as we really want. It all depends on how empty we are willing to be.
The deep place is frightening territory - we have no control there. When we fall headlong into His loving heart, that love will carry us to places beyond our imagination - certainly beyond our own capacity.
But what if we lose the power to direct our own lives?
What if He asks us for something we're not prepared to give?
What if He asks us to go somewhere we're afraid to go?
In the secret depths we learn to trust Him. We find the courage to shed the filthy rags we cling to - pride, ambition, deception, distorted self-image, offense, bitterness, and unforgiveness - the things that weigh us down and hinder us. We learn to rest in Him as He washes us with His Word. And in this deep place of intimate communion and fellowship, we learn that the healing, beauty and freedom we find is not for us alone. Following Him, we rise from the depths to carry His message of outrageous Love to the world He died for… and lives for. Calling others out of the shallows, reminding them that were created for so much more.
But we cannot call them to places we have never gone ourselves. So how do we go deep?
Going deep requires time. Time to sit in God's presence, time to ingest and reflect on His Word, time to worship, time to pray, time to listen. Intimacy cannot be rushed.
Going deep requires space - a pulling away from the frenzy of day-to-day activity, withdrawing from the crowd often, just like Jesus did.
Going deep requires silence. Turning off the radio, the television, the computer, the iPod, hanging up the telephone - eliminating the noise in order to hear the still, small Voice.
Going deep requires choosing to say no to the inconsequential things we feed on every day, so that we will be empty and hungry for the very stuff of God. It's choosing life - real life, instead of the comfortable, predictable everyday existence.
The King is calling us, directing us to deep waters - to
be emptied of self and the world, to be filled with Him for the sake of the
world. It is a call that requires a response.
The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life
in all its fullness. ~ Jesus John 10:10
If you'd like to invite Patt Wadenpfuhl to speak, contact her through email.
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Great Commission Worship & Arts Center