An Infinite Ocean Rarely Enjoyed

The experience of the disciples recorded in all four Gospels is a remarkable parallel to the spiritual journey that most of us live out on a daily basis. Though they had the great fortune to walk with the Master daily, feast on the truth that characterized not only every word He spoke but indeed exuded from His very being, and witness first hand His miraculous acts of compassion, they capitalized precious little on their marvelous privileges but instead lived lives of doubt, disbelief, fear, and unfulfilled dreams. In their midst was the Master of the sea and yet the waves of the sea constantly threatened their security. The Bread of Life that multiplied the lad’s lunch walked in their midst and yet still they wanted for food, not only the physical but the spiritual as well. The very One who came to destroy the works of the devil, heal the sick, and exorcise demons as they watched, stood with them and still they feared the enemy of their souls. They were a band of followers living far beneath their potential.

Do we not do the same? We stand on the “sight” side of the faith experience of the disciples and have their lives and journeys to provide us with guidance. We have been given all that we need that pertains to life and godliness, the whole counsel of God’s Word that is living, active, and powerful, the indwelling of the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and still we cower in defeat, wallow in fear, practice stagnant spirituality, and carry out cold and formal relationship with the lover of our souls.

Brother Lawrence, the 17th century monk who spoke of the Presence of God once noted, “God’s treasure is like an infinite ocean, yet a little wave of feeling, passing with the moment contents us.” How true that is! How sad is the reality that too often we settle for just a passing sense of His presence or a momentary spiritual “pick-me-up” but fail to learn to enjoy the fullness of His abiding presence. The psalmist said “there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God…” (Psalm 46:4). There is a vastness awaiting us, an ocean of glorious opportunity, living streams of God’s blessing that are readily available to those of us who will press in and wait till these streams overflow our souls which had previously been satisfied with but a wave of feeling. May we, with the people of Ephesus for whom Paul prayed, “comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18, 19).