Day 017

Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch many fish. Luke 5:4 (The New Living Translation)

Going Deeper in Consecration

Sometimes it is easy to stay in the shallows of our comfortableness.

We have got used to the things around us, we are doing a good job, and we are given reassurance and strength by doing what we know. The only problem is that if we only ever do what we have always done, we will only ever get what we have always had. What is true for our actions can be true for our relationship with God. We can allow the spiritual disciplines to become chores rather than delights. Slowly, we move away from fasting, daily prayer, personal worship, confession, accountability and the daily digesting of God’s Word for our own souls. Before long, we are running on empty, or running on fumes. Others may not see it immediately, but deep down in our souls, we have lost our way, and we are afraid to ask for help.

Sometimes God asks us to push out into ‘deeper water’. That deeper water might be a new area of service and engagement with our communities, it might be increasing the breadth of the ministry that we already provide, or it might be working with a people group that we have hitherto had little to do with. Equally, it might be an inner journey, a personal pilgrimage toward greater holiness and deeper contentment through a re-consecrated life. To go further outwardly, we must go deeper personally. There is no short-cut to this. Pushing out into deeper water might mean giving more, opening our home more, loving our neighbour more, or stepping back to hear God more clearly. It might mean doing less, getting help, confessing our sin to a friend or a mentor, getting some counselling. It might mean diarising our devotion, putting space in our diary for God and us without an agenda. It might mean sitting with the Saviour, kneeling at the Cross, and remembering the mercy that has been shown us. It will always mean putting things right.

Whatever ‘boat’ we find ourselves in, and whatever ‘pushing out into deep water’ means to us, we are also asked to cast out nets. And when we do, there will be a catch of fish – transformed lives and communities changed by the grace and presence of God. Ministry is never more important than maintaining a healthy relationship with God. God will never ask us to sacrifice our families and marriages on the altar of ministry. If we cast out unconsecrated nets, we will be deeply dissatisfied. More outward success without inward renewal is a recipe for increased anxiety, frustration and dissatisfaction. It might be easy to stay in the shallows – but it is nowhere near as satisfying or purposeful.

Consecration is the pathway to fulfilment, because it is the pathway to the rhythm and the purposes of God first in us, then through us.

For further thought –

What areas of the work or ministry you are involved in have become stale? Might that be because your relationship with God has become too functional or because you have focussed too much on ‘doing’ ministry and not enough on allowing God to minister to you? Are there areas where you know that God is calling you to deepen your walk with Him, to try something new, enter new territory or reach out in a way that you have not done before. When was the last time you had a retreat day, or a period of fasting? How is your daily walk with God? The most important question of all – how is your soul? What changes will you make to your rhythm in order to be in a better posture with the Holy Spirit? What help do you need to get there and who will you ask? There is no time like the present.