DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!
If you’ve ever watched an old WWII movie involving the epic battles that raged on the high seas of the Pacific, surely you’ve heard the distinctive phrase, “Dive! Dive! Dive!”. It is the unambiguous command of a submarine captain whose determinate aim is to plunge his men and machines into the great menacing depths of the sea. Whether he is desperately trying to evade an unrelenting adversary, secretly slipping under the waves to stalk his prey, or merely shaking down a new ship and training his green recruits; this maneuver is fraught with danger, uncertainty, anxiety and breathtaking excitement.
In every case however, without exception, it is an absolutely essential procedure that must be practiced and perfected, because it defines the very existence of the ship itself. A submarine, as its name implies, was created for the purpose of operating in the hostile environment deep under water, not in the relative safety of the surface. When the crew, captain, and craft are moving in harmony with this objective, it becomes a modern engineering marvel that is truly spectacular to behold.
However, most of us would never consider a 560 foot-long steel tube packed with 150 close neighbors, 500 feet under water, with no windows, and no possible way of escape, a desirable or even safe place to be. Yet, in a combat scenario, when things get dicey on the surface, with missiles, bombs, and bullets flying everywhere, and where you are vulnerable to attack; below the surface, hidden deep within the essence of your designed purpose, is precisely where you want to be.
It has been said that, there has never been a storm on the Atlantic, whose roots went deeper than the surface. Even if the waves are so great that they crash over the bridge of a battleship or even the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, a submarine always finds the water fifty feet down as calm as a pond on a clear day in the month of July. When all is chaos on the surface, deep down there is peace. And so as we begin this new year of 2017, it is this unambiguous command from the Captain of my salvation who compels me to write, “Dive deeper!” Deeper into my relationship with Him... deeper into His will and purposes for my life... deeper into His word and the life changing convictions of His Spirit... deeper into the lives of the precious people that He has blessed me to know, love, and care for; my wife, my children, my brothers and sisters in Christ, etc… And deeper still into the grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness that He desires to disseminate in and through my life.
This is a safe place to be, even though it is inherently dangerous from the perspective of many in the world today. It is a desirable place to be, and one that defies human explanation. Life on the surface; with all of its glitz and glamour, material wealth and pleasure, and never ending promises of peace, prosperity, and permanent satisfaction, is woefully unable to deliver. In reality, what it does manage to deliver is anything but peaceful. Chaos, confusion, and disharmony rages on the surface but I find peace when I dive deeper into my relationship with Jesus Christ. I encourage you to do the same this year.
By Pastor Glen Mustian
