Life Below See Level
Life Below See Level
A couple weeks ago our church put on a very successful VBS. We had tons of volunteers. Tons of kids. Tons of fun. It was an absolutely wonderful time. And to make it even better, the theme of VBS was SCUBA, so it was all underwater.
This theme, of course, got me thinking about Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and you can’t think about that movie without thinking about Sebastian’s famous Under the Sea song. If you’re unaware of the lyrics, it’s basically a song that glorifies life in open ocean and how it’s better than life on land. Life on land is the dream of the young mermaid, and her struggle is how to get there.
This isn’t a synopsis or analysis of the famous animated film, but it is a really good example and analogy. Life below the surface may have certain problems, but it also avoids others. I think this a great example of faith. Faith is living life below see level.
Faith has the ability to produce peace in our life because we’re placing our trust in the Prince of Peace. Hebrews 11:1 says it this way: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (NIV). Faith is confidence in hope. And I think nowadays we are using hope all wrong.
These days, we are using hope as an uncertainty. Like this: I hope it rains today. We aren’t sure. We aren’t certain. But we’re hopeful. This couldn’t be more opposite than the way the Bible uses the word hope. Hope is a certainty, not an uncertainty. Colossians 1:27 tells us that if Christ is in us, HE is our hope of glory. HE is our certainty of salvation. Our certainty of heaven. It’s a certainty and it’s also an expectation. And the writer of Hebrews and Colossians (some suspect Paul wrote both) used the same root word in Greek when using the word hope.
“I hope it rains” is a phrase I’ve been telling myself and others here lately because my grass needs it and I’m not a meteorologist. Who, by the way, may be one of few people in an industry that can be completely dead wrong and still keep their job. And any meteorologist in Florida is probably going to be wrong more often than not because our weather changes so much.
When I lived in south Florida for a couple years the weather was slightly more predictable. In the summer time it was almost a guarantee for a couple months that it would rain at 4pm every day. Almost on the nose.
But back to under the sea-life, I can remember being a kid and my parents would sometimes let us swim if it was raining and no lightning. As a kid, I thought it was the coolest thing to be able to do that. With your head above water you could feel the driving rain hitting and stinging your skin. But the moment you dipped down below the surface, it was all gone. There was no stinging or driving rain. There was no chill on your skin from the rain. It was calm.
This is exactly what I mean when I talk about life below see level by putting our faith in the Prince of Peace. It doesn’t mean the storms won’t come. They will. They will rage violently and chaos will crash and break… but only on the surface.
Storms are only surface level. When we choose to dip our sights below the surface and out of reach - out of touch - from the storms going on all around us, that is where we find peace. And it’s not that they aren’t there - it’s not that the storms aren’t raging - it’s that we’re choosing where we place our perspective.
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the Bible links water to the Holy Spirit. When we choose to submerse ourselves in the water - in the baptizing - of the Holy Spirit, we are choosing to link our perspective with His. And when we link our perspective with His, we are choosing to look through or beyond, or under the current storm that is raging and screaming for our attention.
I encourage you to find a place of peace like this. No, unfortunately, we can’t live life below the surface just yet. Plus I think excessive pruning of the hands would become a problem very quickly. But we can find this place to get along with God and get alone with His Holy Spirit so we can let the storms of this world just float above us.
Peace isn’t always something you have, but it is something you can take. It is something you can exchange with Christ. Every day, He is offering us this exchange of problems for peace. Peace just might be a place as well. A place where you feel at peace. Where you can connect better in order to make that exchange with Christ.
So take what the world gives you, and exchange it for His peace.
A couple weeks ago our church put on a very successful VBS. We had tons of volunteers. Tons of kids. Tons of fun. It was an absolutely wonderful time. And to make it even better, the theme of VBS was SCUBA, so it was all underwater.
This theme, of course, got me thinking about Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and you can’t think about that movie without thinking about Sebastian’s famous Under the Sea song. If you’re unaware of the lyrics, it’s basically a song that glorifies life in open ocean and how it’s better than life on land. Life on land is the dream of the young mermaid, and her struggle is how to get there.
This isn’t a synopsis or analysis of the famous animated film, but it is a really good example and analogy. Life below the surface may have certain problems, but it also avoids others. I think this a great example of faith. Faith is living life below see level.
Faith has the ability to produce peace in our life because we’re placing our trust in the Prince of Peace. Hebrews 11:1 says it this way: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (NIV). Faith is confidence in hope. And I think nowadays we are using hope all wrong.
These days, we are using hope as an uncertainty. Like this: I hope it rains today. We aren’t sure. We aren’t certain. But we’re hopeful. This couldn’t be more opposite than the way the Bible uses the word hope. Hope is a certainty, not an uncertainty. Colossians 1:27 tells us that if Christ is in us, HE is our hope of glory. HE is our certainty of salvation. Our certainty of heaven. It’s a certainty and it’s also an expectation. And the writer of Hebrews and Colossians (some suspect Paul wrote both) used the same root word in Greek when using the word hope.
“I hope it rains” is a phrase I’ve been telling myself and others here lately because my grass needs it and I’m not a meteorologist. Who, by the way, may be one of few people in an industry that can be completely dead wrong and still keep their job. And any meteorologist in Florida is probably going to be wrong more often than not because our weather changes so much.
When I lived in south Florida for a couple years the weather was slightly more predictable. In the summer time it was almost a guarantee for a couple months that it would rain at 4pm every day. Almost on the nose.
But back to under the sea-life, I can remember being a kid and my parents would sometimes let us swim if it was raining and no lightning. As a kid, I thought it was the coolest thing to be able to do that. With your head above water you could feel the driving rain hitting and stinging your skin. But the moment you dipped down below the surface, it was all gone. There was no stinging or driving rain. There was no chill on your skin from the rain. It was calm.
This is exactly what I mean when I talk about life below see level by putting our faith in the Prince of Peace. It doesn’t mean the storms won’t come. They will. They will rage violently and chaos will crash and break… but only on the surface.
Storms are only surface level. When we choose to dip our sights below the surface and out of reach - out of touch - from the storms going on all around us, that is where we find peace. And it’s not that they aren’t there - it’s not that the storms aren’t raging - it’s that we’re choosing where we place our perspective.
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the Bible links water to the Holy Spirit. When we choose to submerse ourselves in the water - in the baptizing - of the Holy Spirit, we are choosing to link our perspective with His. And when we link our perspective with His, we are choosing to look through or beyond, or under the current storm that is raging and screaming for our attention.
I encourage you to find a place of peace like this. No, unfortunately, we can’t live life below the surface just yet. Plus I think excessive pruning of the hands would become a problem very quickly. But we can find this place to get along with God and get alone with His Holy Spirit so we can let the storms of this world just float above us.
Peace isn’t always something you have, but it is something you can take. It is something you can exchange with Christ. Every day, He is offering us this exchange of problems for peace. Peace just might be a place as well. A place where you feel at peace. Where you can connect better in order to make that exchange with Christ.
So take what the world gives you, and exchange it for His peace.
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So beautiful indeed! " This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast..." Hebrews 6:19