Seeing the works of God - Deep Waters

Seeing the Works of God

By Os Hillman, January 27, 2010

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Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the Lord.... - Psalm 107:23-24a

When you were a child, perhaps you may have gone to the ocean for a vacation. I recall wading out until the waves began crashing on my knees. As long as I could stand firm, the waves were of no concern to me. However, as I moved farther and farther into the ocean, I had less control over my ability to stand. Sometimes the current was so strong it moved me down the beach, and I even lost my bearings at times. But I have never gone so far into the ocean that I was not able to control the situation.

Sometimes God takes us into such deep waters that we lose control of the situation, and we have no choice but to fully trust in His care for us. This is doing business in great waters. It is in these great waters that we see the works of God.

The Scriptures tell us that the disciples testified of what they saw and heard. It was the power behind the gospel, not the words themselves, which changed the world. The power wasn't seen until circumstances got to the point that there were no alternatives but God. Sometimes God has to take us into the deep water in order to give us the privilege to see His works.

Sometimes God takes us into the deep waters of life for an extended time. Joseph was taken into deep waters of adversity for 17 years. Rejection by his brothers, enslavement to Pharaoh, and imprisonment were the deep waters for Joseph. During those deep waters, he experienced dreams, a special anointing of his gifts to administrate, and great wisdom beyond his years. The deep water was preparation for a task that was so great he never could have imagined it. He was to see God's works more clearly than anyone in his generation. God had too much at stake for a 30-year-old to mess it up. So, God took Joseph through the deep waters of preparation to ensure that he would survive what he was about to face. Pride normally engulfs such young servants who have such access to power at such a young age.

If God chooses to take us into deep waters, it is for a reason. The greater the calling, the deeper the water. Trust in His knowledge that your deep waters are preparation to see the works of God in your life.

Submission to God

God does not want our praise if it is just words and we really aren't feeling it. God wants us to submit to Him and His perfect will and then receive our praise for realizing what an awesome God He is through the fruit we bare in Him. Once we submit ourselves to Him and trust Him, we begin to see things happen in our lives that would not happen no matter how hard we tried in our own might. Our works leave us empty, His work in us leaves us filled. God is an awesome God, He reigns with mighty power with wisdom we cannot fathom, with peace that is unending.

God as a special plan for us all. When we go out independently of that plan and try to fulfill our needs and desires we veer off course which results in misery and destruction. He has the perfect plan for all of us, we just have to submit ourselves to Him. Asking "What would Jesus do?" does not always cut it because we are still acting within ourselves. God wants us to say "What would you have me do?" and submit to His word, guidance and prayer.

Broke but Blessed

Praise be to God for He is a mighty fortress and my deliverer. He set me free from the chains of porn and addiction and showed me a stream of water that will always quench my thirst. I as about to give in to worldly temptation, but he put in front of me a article on Porn addiction and the statistics related around divorce, depression and destruction. Then my wife walks in and says "Hey, do you want to?" Boo-yah. Just on time and right at that moment.

He has delivered my business from complete ruin. We have made payroll some how and some way the past few months without the payments from Bruce and with a ton of other AR outstanding. I am not sure exactly what I am supposed to do with Dave P. but what a blessing for this man to come into my life at this moment. All praise and honor goes to God because he guides us and directs us when we listen.

Intimacy with God

Over time, the Lord began to show her that He wanted to become her Husband. After two and one-half years without a boyfriend, she asked the Lord to show her how to fall in love with Him. Days later, she received a phone call from someone asking her if she could go on a three-day retreat. She instantly knew God was answering her prayer. He showed her that she could have the same kind of intimacy with Him that she could have with a human husband. She thought this to be strange for the obvious reasons most would think it strange. However, God began to demonstrate to her a level of intimacy that she never thought possible.

Intimacy with God is not a fairy tale God teases us with in the Bible. He really desires to have intimacy with you and me. Ask God to reveal Himself to you in personal and intimate ways. He desires to do this.

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide with the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, an many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.. 


"Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10a).

Boundaries and God's blessings

Each of us must have freedom and boundaries in our work life. Whenever you are hired for a job, you must have the freedom to make certain decisions. You must have the authority to manage things within your area of expertise. You must also have limits within your area of responsibility. You need to know where those limits are and stay within them. Both freedom and boundaries are always under the umbrella of God's authority and our authorities at work.

Jesus understood these boundaries. When He was tempted for 40 days by the devil after being baptized, He was challenged by satan to go outside His freedom and boundaries. (See Matthew 4:1-11.) Satan said that He had the power to turn a stone into bread. Jesus was hungry and easily could have justified using His power to feed Himself. However, Jesus understood He could do nothing outside the boundaries of God's will for His life. It was God's will for Jesus to be tempted and to withstand the temptation. God was showing His Son that "man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Mt. 4:4b).

Jesus did not perform miracles out of pride in Himself, he did if for the glory of God and to further the kingdom of God. We must do everything for the glory of God and then we can do anything, "even greater things than these". It is not by our power but God's power. 

Will you perform as the Maker designed

 His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" - Matthew 25:21

Testing allows one to discover how well a product is made when placed under extreme stress. Increasing the pulling pressure between two objects reveals the amount of tension that can be withstood in a chain link. Eventually, the "choking" point occurs. In sports, we ascertain the "choking" point for athletes by putting them into a pressure situation. At what point will the athlete lose concentration and collapse under the pressure? It is under these stressful times that we discover how well we have been trained to withstand the pressure and make right decisions regardless of outside influences.

In my younger days I played sports. I came to observe that we fail under pressure usually because we reach a point where our ability to focus on execution yields to concern about outcome. This worry about outcome forces us to lose our concentration. The fear of failure begins to rule our emotions and actions, which ultimately results in our failure. What we fear has come upon us. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In life, we see giving in to pressure in the form of compulsive behavior, withdrawal, anger, abuse, moral failure, and dishonesty, to name just a few manifestations.

Jesus never yielded to pressure. He never made decisions based on outcome. He always made the right decision. He always performed the same no matter what the circumstance. He lived a life based on absolutes, not circumstances. He never gave in to "situational ethics."

As God entrusts us with more and more responsibility, He brings more and more pressures into our lives to "test the product," to make sure that He can give even more responsibility to us. This process helps us see where we are in our maturity and determines our level of future responsibility.

Are you a product that can withstand the product test? Will you perform as the Maker designed no matter what outside pressures come? Know that you cannot perform well unless you are continually in relationship with and obedient to the one who made you. Trust the product developer today. He has made you to perform well under pressure.

Answered Prayer - Pay for Trinity Next Year 2009-2010

Tiffany and I have been praying that God would provide ability for us to send girls to Trinity again for 2009 and 2010 year. We are getting $25,000 in taxes back