Dare to Dive Deeper…and Bring a Snorkel

This is a break from my usual blogging. I just want to put this out there because it was so profound…I am still in awe!

Recently, I watched a documentary released in 2020 by Craig Foster, a filmmaker who tells his story of an encounter with an octopus on his daily snorkelling in the kelp forests off the coast in South Africa, near his home, in a time of mental and emotional brokenness. What began as a chance encounter, seeing an octopus quickly gather shells in its tentacles and roll itself into a ball, becoming unrecognisable to a predator, set off a curiosity to understand the behaviour he’d not seen before. His daily dives near her den developed a curiosity on both sides and a gradual trust and bond between them as man and beast explored the boundaries of trust… watching each other’s movements, reaching out to touch each other, swimming alongside each other.

God used this extraordinary documentary viewing to invite me to a greater depth of intimacy with Him…using this very visual and intriguing, rare encounter to show what is possible with persistence, patience and pursuit of relationship and encounter with Him.

Sharing this post with my daughter, she reminded me of the significance of the snorkel from our family history view. In our family business, we often referred the need for a snorkel as we “launched into the great unknown”.. when we felt way out of our depth and the only way forward was to keep paddling. When others would want to pack up and go home, we just put on an extension, lengthening the snorkel as we sank deeper because quitting was not an option. Persistence, patience, pursuit.

I have been doing a course called “4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice” by Dr Mark Virkler …a whole new concept for me and not something taught in standard church settings or studies. I have been taught firstly:

• that God does speak to me,
• that I need to make myself available to hear ..in stillness
• to trust that the Holy Spirit flows within me
• to journal what comes in that stillness and intimacy with Him. It is in the stillness of my prayer time in relationship with the Holy Spirit, I am learning to trust the flow of words on the page as I write. When I feel myself thinking of the next thing to write, I know I have taken over but for the most part, as I allow my heart to tune to His “voice” …. the pen just glides across the paper and when I sense no other words come, I read back over the piece finding myself in stunned awe of what I have been given. This has been he case in this piece I wanted to share with you.

What follows is what Holy Spirit has shared with me in the process of my journaling, applying the 4 keys as taught.

My Octopus Teacher was such a good visual of your life, Naomi. You dip your toe in the water, tentatively testing its depth, not wanting to fully commit to the idea of Me. You came back to me after a long absence…but you came broken and in need of healing.

As you have consistently swum the murky depths of life, searching for Me, your tolerance for the changes you experience deepens and becomes clearer…more comfortable. As that happens, your vision becomes clearer and you notice more, your curiosity and hunger to know more drives you to stay longer, go deeper, search and observe more.

Then, there is an encounter…an experience…a surprise display of trust…brief at first but the beginning of a tentative, then deepening trust and exploration of relationship.

Dare to dive deeper!

Dare and see and experience the depth of relationship possible, the joy of encounter that will strengthen and develop your capacity for love, joy and delight in me. Openly display and declare your faith and love for Me. When you dive, come with childlike fascination and absolute abandon, shutting out all other external distraction and be totally focused on the prize…the glory that will emanate from your surrender to Me.

It will make no sense to the unbelievers around you but those who see with the eyes of faith will bless you and be blessed as you share your testimony of growth and grace.

At times it may seem I am hidden from you…. like the octopus covered in shells gathered from the ocean floor and held close to cover My form…that form of Me that you come to expect as My “norm”. Never underestimate or rule out how I might manifest in your life in ways and forms that may confuse you and even may offend your sensibilities. I use everything in your surroundings and life experience. Sometimes, even My impulse to “hide” is so that what I have to give you is precious and personal in a moment of need. Other times and displays are for corporate benefit.

Come each day Naomi, to experience Me, to worship Me, to immerse yourself in the deep of My love for you. Take a deep breath and dive…seek Me and you will find Me because I am waiting each day to be found by you and for you to discover the treasure I have laid in store for you. I invite you and welcome you with open arms and heart into this new, vivid, experiential world of enormous blessing, learning and discovery.

Come, eyes wide with wonder and awe…your heart open to receive all that is available for you and your mind a blank canvas on which I will write my truths, stretch your expectations, and awaken immeasurable possibility and purpose for you.

Come! I am waiting here for you in the deep. Come!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Drawing: Octopus by Felicity Roorda…my very talented daughter!

Documentary: My Octopus Teacher 2020 by Craig Foster

Distributed by Netflix https://www.m.imdb.com/title/tt12888462/

Winner of multiple awards…

Academy Award for best documentary feature 2021

BAFTA Award for Best Documentary 2021

Golden Horn Award…Best Natural History & Environmental Program 2021

   Producers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary 2021

and more…..