Uncomfortable Places

They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep.

Psalm 107:24

My husband and I went boating recently. We live a few miles from Lake Marion and spend most of our summer weekends on the water. That particular afternoon, we pulled up to the sandbar at my brother-in-law’s house and hopped out for a short visit. Sitting on the shore, my husband had a good view of the underside of our pontoon. He noticed a piece of the underpinning was hanging loose. In his usual optimistic and enthusiastic manner, he jumped up, grabbed his tools from the boat, and said “I can fix it. But I need your help and cooperation. We’ll have to push out deeper, so we can stand up under the boat. I can’t fix it unless I can get to it.”  

To repair what was broken, we had to push out into deeper water. 

I didn’t like this repair process. I had to put myself in an uncomfortable position. I stood in muddy water up to my neck, in a tight space between three pontoons, holding a screw in a metal sheet all the while hoping a gator wasn’t lurking nearby! I would have preferred to stay comfortably on shore with my toes in the nice shallow water. But it’s where I had to be for the work to be successful. 

Psalm 107:24 says, “They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep.” I’ve experienced his healing work and seen his wonderful deeds in the deep in my own life. Ten years ago, I started having panic attacks and lived with anxiety for most of that time. I discovered, with the help of the Lord and a strong Christian counselor, that I carried fear, unmet expectations, and perfectionistic tendencies from a broken childhood into my adult life. But it wasn’t until I allowed God to take me into uncomfortable places deep in my soul that healing began. 

There are things in all of us that are broken. We like to ignore them, shove them deep underneath where we think they aren’t visible. But God has a perfect vantage point, and we can’t hide them from him. And because he’s so good and wants each of us to walk in freedom, he’s going to, at some point, ask us to push out into those deep places so he can do some repairing. But he can’t fix it unless we’re willing to let him get to it. Is it uncomfortable? Yes. Scary? Usually. Worth it? Always. 

Reflect

1. What’s broken and in need of repair in your life?
2. Are you willing to push out deeper, give God access, and allow him to fix it?
3. What action steps will you take to get there?