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God is Stirring the Waters 

In John 5, we read the story of the man who was sick for 38 years, and was waiting for his healing.  He was lying among the hundreds of sick who were gathered at this pool in Bethesda.  Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well.  He said that he wasn’t able to be the first one into the pool when the angel began to stir the waters.  The first one in always got healed. 

Jesus healed him on the spot.  No angel was necessary, no jumping in the pool was necessary.  The man didn’t even answer Jesus with a strong, “YES, I want to be healed!”   Instead, he brought his lament to Jesus – he wasn’t quick enough to jump in the pool first.  Jesus showed mercy to this man who had been crippled for decades. 

By healing him on the spot, Jesus was saying, “I’m here, and I’m all you need.  You don’t have to wait for an angel.  There is no lack of healing available.  Healing isn’t reserved for the clever and able ones who manage to get into the front of the line.” 

In the past year, God has been “stirring the waters” big time in my life.  Did you know that the average adult human body is 50-65% water, averaging around 57-60%?   The natural things speak of the invisible.  Jesus said we would have living water gushing out of us if we come to him and drink.  The river of God never stops flowing. 

I hear so many stories from around the world of God stirring the waters in peoples’ lives.  In the John 5 healing story, no angel was present.  But in these days, angelic visitations are not occasional.  They are constant.

I believe the veil between our earthly existence and stepping into the kingdom of heaven is thinner than ever.  People who persistently push through this veil will experience more and more of God’s love, healing, glory and empowering for daily life. 

The first week of June will mark the beginning of my new video series called The Pool of Healing.  The word translated “healing” in the new Testament is sozo.  This word describes much more than physical healing.  It describes deliverance from evil, salvation of our souls, restoration of our minds, emotions and social relationships.  Sozo brings about a general state of well-being, and it prepares us to be conduits of living water to others. 

My video series will include stories, songs, prophetic words, and sharing what I’ve learned about walking with Jesus over the past four decades.  You can check it out on my youtube channel.

Ride the Wave  

There have been thousands of “waves” of the Holy Spirit throughout church history.  Here’s one example: in the country of Wales, between 1762 and 1862 there were at least 15 outstanding revivals (see “Revival Comes to Wales” by Eifion Evans). 

I grew up in Southern California, and did some surfing.  I never surfed enough to became a good surfer.  But I did learn some of the fundamentals of the sport.  There are many parallels between catching a wave on a surfboard and catching a wave of the Holy Spirit. 

What do you do when you surf a wave? 

1.  Watch for it.  While we are never without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, it’s good to always be looking for incoming waves.  When you see people being touched and hear stories from near and far about extraordinary things God is doing, you are seeing incoming waves that might reach your own shores.  This raises your faith level, and spurs you on to seek the Lord diligently, to pray and listen and respond to him. 

2.  Get yourself in a position to catch it.  Being in the right place at the right time is supremely important in surfing waves.  You learn it by doing it.  Simply go where there are waves and you pick up the knack for being in the right place.  Things of the Spirit are “more easily caught than taught.”  So hang around people and places that are receiving and giving away the Holy Spirit’s blessings.  Several years ago I was in Hawaii on a ministry trip (poor me, someone has to do it).  I got a couple of brief surfing opportunities with my son, Ben.  While I was paddling to catch a wave, one of the local surfer women shouted out, “go, go, go!”  She could see I needed to pick up the pace to catch the wave.  We need friends around us to cheer us on towards our spiritual goal. 

3.  To catch the wave.  You have to build up speed to catch the wave, which means you have to paddle hard. I relate this to having good spiritual habits.  You learn to pray by praying.  Just as surfers build up strong upper body muscles through lots of paddling, we build up spiritual muscles through frequent practice.  Mother Teresa said, “Prayer is a 2-way conversation.  God speaks, we listen.  We speak, God listens.”  The Holy Spirit is our constant inner teacher.  We tap into what he is saying by maintaining a posture of prayer. It’s not easy to catch a wave in surfing, but the more you do it, the easier it gets.  (I think it’s much easier to receive the Holy Spirit than to catch a beach wave!) 

4.  When you’re on the wave, you move in response to the wave.  You “do what the wave is doing.”  Keep listening.  Abide in him.  Get your instructions from him.  Do what he says.  In Paul’s teaching on discerning spiritual things, he says, “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2).  If we have access to the mind of Christ, that means he can potentially be feeding us his thoughts non-stop.  Because we aren’t perfect receptors for his thoughts, we miss a lot of stuff.  Nevertheless, he is always ready to lead and guide. (Every analogy has weaknesses.  In a sense, we are always on a wave of the Holy Spirit because he is connected to our own human spirit.  See 1 Cor. 6:17, 2 Peter 1:4).  In surfing, you “feel” your way along the wave.  Not unlike moving with the Holy Spirit. 

5.  The power comes from the wave, not from us.  If we abide in him, we will bear much fruit by virtue of our connection with his love, wisdom and power.  This is liberating.  We never have to produce the power, and we never take the credit, because he is the source of every blessing.  

Good waves come in sets of 6 or 8, then there’s a lull, then another set rolls in.  Watch and wait for the right times to surf.  If there are no waves, go have a barbeque on the beach!  At all times, love one another, serve the needy, and do the “main and plain” things that every Christian should do. 

6.  Riding a beach wave is unlike any other feeling I’ve had.  It’s definitely a euphoric experience.  I think it’s even more fun than skiing or snowboarding – being smoothly carried along by a very powerful force.  For me, these euphoric feelings in surfing have been few and fleeting.  The Holy Spirit’s presence in us is much more constant and dependable than a beach wave.  He is always with us.  We don’t focus on euphoria, we focus on him, and sometimes he gives us a taste of heaven, and helps us to help others experience the same wonderful freedom. 

7.  Disclaimer.  Maybe the biggest weakness of this analogy between surfing and responding to the Holy Spirit is that surfing is and individual sport and immersion into the Holy Spirit is best done in relationship with others. 

8.  Watch for waves!  Paddle hard!  Trust the wave-Maker.  Be connected to a community of comrade-Holy Spirit-surfers.