Digging In

By Elizabeth Roy

“For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” Psalm 107:9

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD and depart from evil.” These verses are not easy commands. To trust in God with ALL my heart; to forsake my understanding of circumstances; to seek God’s direction in ALL things; to realize my wisdom as foolishness in comparison to God’s wisdom; to truly know the fear of the Lord; and to resist the common, persistent,  temptation to allow evil to dwell within this very temple of God? No easy commands indeed! One must push to the deeper levels of spiritual living and understanding to even begin to obey. But, mind you, there is not a choice offered here. My wording was purposeful, “One must.”

The songwriter wrote, “O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!” In Deuteronomy, Moses reminds us, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…”  The universe, a part of the creative work of God is vast; vaster than vast, actually.  Its depths are unfathomable. Deep, unfathomable, and eternal is our God. And we, who are saved by grace, once the children of wrath, now made the children of God by Jesus’ precious blood, have entered into this relationship with our Maker and King. Why, then, are we content to merely rake the surface of His wondrous love for us when we might dig in and plummet the depths of who God is? How is it that we can be satisfied with a scratching of the surface with our mini-devotions done in record time? Insanity! This life is a classroom. Death is graduation day. Many, many are the lessons to be learned. A two minute “Daily Bread” reading will leave your spirit starving and your soul unprepared.

The Christian life takes great discipline, focus and strength. Discipline is needed to read God’s Word. Discipline is needed yet again to heed God’s Word. Focus is needed to help us remember that the King of kings and Lord of lords has His ear inclined unto us as we commune with Him in worship and prayer. This FACT of His attentiveness must wake us up out of our habitually racing, rambling mind to sit quietly before Him, or to petition Him in prayer with at least as much respect and attention as we would muster up for a meeting with our President or with our dear Pastor. God, the very God of all has His ear inclined unto you!

Did you ever stop to listen to yourself from God’s perspective during your time of prayer? I think most of us sound like massive ADHD sufferers to God. “Dear Lord, please continue to work in my co-worker’s heart and bring them —oh, dear I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer—bring them to a point of understanding their –yikes, look at the time, got to shower before that appointment at 9—to a point of understanding their sin and their just punishment before a ––if only my children would listen to me like that other family’s kids listen to them —what was I saying, God? Oh, you know what I mean and you know my schedule today. We’ll talk later. Amen.” Where is our reverence? Where is our discipline of mind? Dig deeply within yourself and find the wherewithal to focus on just one thing.

Strength is needed to dig in and seek for God’s wisdom as for hidden treasure. In my gardening efforts, it’s the digging that kills me.  I start digging and no sooner do I hit a rock, and the sun’s too hot, and there are roots in the way, and I drop the shovel on my foot, and I’m sure it’s time to stop for lunch!  I find it frustrating and laborious work. But the end result is good, very good. Whether it’s a deep hole for a new plant or digging an area out to rid it of a nasty weed infestation, the end results are good both for the garden and for me. I did it! I conquered myself in this act! I didn’t quit!

Deep wells produce clear water. Deep exploration has found veins of gold and silver. Digging deeply results in treasures found. The act of digging intrinsically involves digging through and digging things out. Rocks will be struck and tree roots will be uncovered. These obstacles are not meant to stop the work, just to increase the labor and determination, teaching us many things about ourselves along the way. They are a part of the process; the clearing of the ground so nothing will hinder the good growth.

Side note: In the garden I find some good spiritual lessons. I’m constantly amazed at the weeds. Amazed that often times the weeds growing closest to the plants look so similar to that plant, teaching me how scary it is to think that we are a Christian simply because we look like one. Amazed that the root systems of some of these weeds are so intricate, so hard to eradicate, teaching me that bad habits, like weeds, once allowed into my life seek nothing less than a complete takeover. Amazed that most roots of weeds look very much alike underground teaching me that sin is sin, no pointing fingers or wagging the tongue, sin is sin.

Those ugly, weedy roots have dug deeply! I can’t simply pull off the tops of the weeds so that others will think, “All is well! No weeds here!” Just as weeds know to dig deeply, we as Christian women must dig deeper to get the upper hand in our spiritual garden. The world, the flesh and the devil seek to gain a deep stronghold in our heart. Satan’s darts aim deeply. John 4:23, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” Indicating there is a difference in worshippers. The Father is seeking those who worship Him deeply, desiring to reveal more of Himself to them.

Dig deeply in to this Christian life by digging deeply into your Bible. Take every opportunity to surround yourself with Truth. Immerse yourself in His Word and discipline your mind towards the things of Christ. Discipline your mind to think only on Christ and that which He loves. Practice the presence of Christ as He truly is over, around and through you; enveloping you, listening to your unceasing train of thoughts, and moving methodically and deliberately through the labyrinth of your heart with His holy light of Truth, waging war at every turn.

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matthew 22:37

“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.” Psalm 57:7