When God Calls You to Go Deeper

God does not want a shallow spiritual life in us.

In most cases, God does not reveal the entire plan He has for us all at once.

Many times He guides His children little by little… like a father holding his child’s hand as he teaches him the way. A word here. A reflection there. A verse that comes back to mind. A seemingly simple experience that, without realizing it, ends up connecting with something much deeper spiritually.

They are small “spiritual clues”… small lessons of divine direction that the Lord leaves along the way to awaken the heart and lead us toward a greater truth.

And that was precisely what happened when, one day, those questions began to arise:

• Do you live with a family, or are you part of a family?
• Do you go to a church, or are you part of the church?
• Do you say you know Jesus, or does the way you live show that you live for Him?

At that moment, perhaps they seemed like only reflective questions. However, later on, the Holy Spirit began to connect those questions with a powerful biblical vision found in Ezekiel 47.

Because deep down, they all point toward the same truth:

Ezekiel’s River: A Call to Spiritual Depth

In Ezekiel 47:3–5, the prophet receives an extraordinary vision. A man with a measuring rod begins to guide him toward waters flowing from the temple of God.

First, the waters reach the ankles.
Then the knees.
Then the waist.
And finally, they become a river impossible to cross on foot.

“Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, because the waters had risen, waters deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed.” — Ezekiel 47:5

This vision is not simply about literal water.

It represents spiritual growth, intimacy with God, and the level of surrender the believer is willing to have before the Lord.

Many want to know about God…
But few desire to go deeply into Him.

Ankle-deep Christianity

Ankle-deep waters represent a minimal relationship with God.

It is the person who knows a few Bible verses, listens to Christian messages, occasionally attends church, and talks about God when it is convenient… but whose life is still mainly directed by their own desires.

They still have absolute control over their life.

They can still enter and leave the river whenever they want.

They still do not depend completely on the Lord.

It is a superficial faith.

And sadly, much of modern Christianity has settled for remaining there.

Knee-deep waters — The place of prayer

Then the waters rise up to the knees.

The knees represent prayer, dependence, and humility.

Here, the person begins to seek the Lord more seriously. They no longer only hear about God; now they begin to pray, seek spiritual direction, and recognize that they need the Lord to sustain them.

However, they still maintain a great deal of control over their life.

They can still easily return to spiritual comfort.

When the water begins to take away control

As I meditated on Ezekiel 47, a personal experience I often had as a child came to mind.

I remember that when I went to the beach, since I did not know how to swim, I always wanted to stay where I could touch the bottom with my feet. As long as the water came up to my waist, I felt safe. I felt that I was still in control of the situation.

But at times, little by little, I dared to go deeper. The water would begin to rise until it almost reached my neck… and suddenly, a wave or a current would pull me into the deep.

That moment filled me with fear.

I would quickly try to get back to the place where I could touch the bottom again, where I felt safe once more.

And as I meditated on that, I understood something spiritually powerful:

Many times, we do exactly the same thing with God.

The Holy Spirit begins to call us into a deeper relationship. He invites us to trust more. To depend more. To surrender more areas of our lives.

But when trials come…
When difficulties arise…
When we feel like we are losing control of the situation…we get scared.

Because deep waters require total dependence on God.

And that is where many draw back spiritually.

We return to the comfortable waters.
To the place where we still feel like we are in control.
To a basic, superficial faith that does not require too much surrender.

The river where you can no longer touch the bottom

Then comes the most powerful moment of the vision.

The river becomes so deep that it can no longer be crossed on foot.

Now you have to swim.

Now the river is in control.

And there lies one of the deepest spiritual teachings of Ezekiel 47.

While the water was shallow, Ezekiel could still stand on his own two feet.

But in the deep river… not anymore.

Now he had to depend completely on what surrounded him.

The same thing happens spiritually.

Many want a God who accompanies them…
but not a God who governs them.

They want blessing…
but not surrender.

They want salvation…
but not transformation.

However, God did not call us simply to get spiritually “wet.” He called us to immerse ourselves completely in His will.

Spiritual babies who only drink milk

The apostle Paul spoke precisely about this spiritual reality.

“And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, and not with solid food; for you were not yet able…” — 1 Corinthians 3:1-2

And also:

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers… you need milk, not solid food.” — Hebrews 5:12

We all begin by drinking spiritual milk.

That is not the problem.

The problem is staying permanently on the shore.

The problem is resisting spiritual growth because deep waters create fear.

Many believers desire God’s promises…
but they do not want to go through the process of maturity.

They desire peace…
but without dependence.

They desire spiritual power…
but without surrender.

They desire depth…
but without losing control.

However, true spiritual maturity begins exactly where our human self-sufficiency ends.

The danger of a shallow faith

We live in times where there is an abundance of:

• shallow relationships,
• shallow commitment,
• shallow worship,
• shallow knowledge,
• and even shallow Christianity.

Many know the Christian language…
but they do not know intimacy with God.

They post verses…
but they do not live out the verses.

They talk about Jesus…
but they do not reflect Jesus.

And Jesus Himself warned about this:

“This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” — Matthew 15:8

A true relationship with Christ produces visible fruit.

“By their fruits you will know them.” — Matthew 7:16

Not human perfection…
but genuine transformation.

“The depths of God call to the depths of man.”

The psalmist wrote:

“Deep calls to deep…” — Psalm 42:7

God continues to call to the depths of man.

He is not merely looking for church attendees.
He is looking for surrendered hearts.

He is not looking for believers who are comfortable in shallow waters.
He is calling people who are willing to enter the river even when they can no longer touch the bottom.

Because spiritual maturity begins when we stop depending on ourselves and begin to depend completely on the Lord.

Peter also had to leave the shallow water

Peter knew that experience.

While he remained in the boat, he still had human security. But the moment he set his feet on the water, he had to depend completely on Jesus.

Deep faith always requires deep trust.

That is why many never move forward spiritually:
because deep waters produce fear.

But they also produce growth.

Laodicea: A comfortable and superficial church

In Revelation 3, Jesus rebuked Laodicea because they had a lukewarm faith.

They were not completely cold…
But neither were they completely surrendered.

They were spiritually superficial.

And that condition still exists today.

Many want enough of God to feel safe…
But not enough to be transformed.

Living waters that flow from within

Jesus declared something powerful:

“Whoever believes in me… out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” — John 7:38

Ezekiel’s river pointed to this.

To a life filled with the Holy Spirit.
To a living relationship with God.
To a transformation that flows from the inside out.

Because when someone truly enters into the deep waters of God… something changes.

He no longer lives the same way.
He no longer thinks the same way.
He no longer speaks the same way.
He no longer loves the same way.

Now the river flows within him.

God continues to leave “spiritual clues”

Perhaps that is why God began placing these questions in the heart little by little.

They were not isolated questions.

They were small spiritual clues that led to a greater truth.

God is still speaking.
He is still guiding.
He is still calling people to walk deeper.

Deeper in faith.
Deeper in obedience.
Deeper in truth.
Deeper in holiness.
Deeper in intimacy with Him.

The real question is not whether the river exists.

The question is:

How deeply are you willing to enter into relationship with God?

A Personal Reflection

While writing this article, I realized something important.

Although these words may help others, I feel they were first meant for me.

As I look back on my own life, I can see many occasions when the Lord has invited me to go deeper into His presence. I can also remember moments when, much like when I was a child standing at the beach, I felt fear as the waters began to take away my sense of control.

Because deep waters always confront us with one reality: complete dependence on God.

And if I am honest, I am still learning that lesson.

I am still learning to trust more.

I am still learning to let go of the things I want to control.

I am still learning to walk by faith when I can no longer touch the bottom with my own strength.

Perhaps that is why this passage from Philippians speaks so deeply to my heart:

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." — Philippians 3:12-14

Paul does not speak like a defeated man.

Nor does he speak like a man who has already arrived.

He speaks like a man who keeps moving forward.

"Not that I have already attained..."

What liberating words.

Because they remind us that we can acknowledge we are still growing without feeling like failures.

We can admit that there are still areas where trusting God is difficult.

We can recognize that there are still deep waters that make us afraid.

And yet, we can keep moving forward.

I do not write these lines as someone who has already reached the deeper waters.

I write them as someone who is still moving farther into the river.

As someone who is still listening to God’s call.

As someone who is still seeing the spiritual clues the Lord leaves along the way.

And as long as I have breath, my desire is to keep responding to that call, moving one step further, one measure further, a little deeper in Christ.

Because the goal is not simply to know more about God.

The goal is to know Him more.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
forever and ever.
Amen and Amen.
Psalm 41:13