In the Christian world, in the kingdom of God, there are no bridges over troubled waters. The children of God are compelled to pass through the waters. And when we do, we are promised that God will be with us. To pass from the wilderness of this world into the Kingdom of God there are many troubled waters to pass through. There is an old negro spiritual song called ” Wade in the waters, Gods gonna trouble the waters.” Has God troubled your waters?
Does He cause you to pass through the waters? Are you passing through them right now? Can I tell you that the life dedicated to Christ is a life of troubled waters. We cannot go around them and we cannot go over them, we must go through them. In Christendom, many refuse to pass through the waters, yet this is Gods calling. The outer court, the court of the gentiles is filled with those who refuse to pass through the waters.
Almost ten years ago, after being a Christian for fifteen years and having prayed to God sometime before that to do ” whatever it takes,” to make me useful in His kingdom I had a vision. Actually it was more than a vision, I am not sure what you would call it. One morning I was sitting in church and the service was under way but I was lost in my own thoughts. Suddenly I found myself plunged under water. It was so real that it took my breath away and I found myself panicking. It was quite shallow , perhaps only about four feet deep yet I was flat on my back on the bottom of a fast flowing river. I was laying on smooth stones. I tried to get up but God would not allow me, it was as if He had His hand on my chest although I could not see it. I could see the surface of the river and the sun above it, but I could not move. The Lord told me, in a very calm voice, ” breath.” I was scared and would not breath. The Lord again repeated ” breath.”
It was terrifying to open my mouth but I shut my eyes and opened my mouth expecting water to rush into my lungs but suddenly I was breathing. The Lord spoke to me and told me He would enable me to stay in this place. He wanted to shape me, like the smooth stones. The troubles waters of life was going to shape me, I would not be shaped by the hand of man but by the troubled waters of life and in the midst of it all God would enable me to not only survive there but to thrive there and help others pass through.
Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isa 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
God has called forth His witnesses in this day and they shall glorify Him as they pass through the troubled waters of life, as they walk through the fires He shall be with them and the only thing that shall be burned up is the worldliness that remains in us. Are you looking for a god that will save you from the troubled waters? Or do you seek to take up your cross and follow God through the troubled waters of life knowing that He will be with you as you pass through.
There are no bridges over troubled waters, there is only God as we pass through them. In Him we live and breathe and have our being, His promises are an anchor to our souls, without Him we are swept away by the troubled waters of life. When we yield to Him and the circumstances of our lives and allow them to shape us, then we are allowing the hand of God to shape our lives. Trust is the anchor of our souls, what He has begun, He will finish......bro Frank