Hidden Currents
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There is a place tucked within the Smoky Mountains which holds the best parts of my childhood. A place blanketed with ferns, shaded by hardwoods and evergreens, laced with families of interconnecting streams, and all guarded by quiet mountains. Cades Cove was our Canon and while the rivers didn’t flow with milk and honey, this promised land of ours held creeks with perfect skipping stones and salamanders for catching. My parents would setup camp, pack a picnic, load us in the back of the truck, find the perfect riverbank and set us free with our water shoes strapped on secure. I was a big rule follower as a child and somewhat skittish, but if I saw my mom and dad open up our camp chairs by a certain stretch of creek, then I knew, without a word spoken, I could trust the body of water before us.
As we grew older we remained faithful to the cove, camping twice a year, playing beside the same creeks, but occasionally we would venture to deeper waters found off the trails. One trail in particular consisted of a 2.5 mile hike back in the woods to a waterfall with a picturesque swimming hole at the base. When my parents were confident in our ability to swim and knew we were too old for piggyback rides, they introduced us to this next level cove experience.
After such a rocky, hot, steep hike, the whispery mist from the waterfalls base would kiss our faces with such sweet invitation to dive in the cool waters and so we would strap on our water shoes, readying ourselves for the plunge. But unlike other places by the creeks we knew so well, my parents had to cover some ground rules for us here for while the water looked so peaceful as it stretched out from beneath the falls, there was an underwater current we couldn’t see but was ever present just under the surface. A current my parents didn’t want us to fear, but one we needed to grow in awareness of.
The unseen current resting below the water is very much like that of the unseen currents that whisk through our very souls.
Our currents are natural like those of the water, and while they can be easy to ride — even fun at times — they can also be costly if left unmonitored, unchecked and in total control. Where a small stream’s current is likely to lightly press your foot in a direction, the current in a river, or at the base of a waterfall has the ability to pull you under and force your being where it is determined to go.
Gut instincts, knee jerk reactions, habitual responses, flesh tendencies can all come from the current within and we all would be wise to grow in awareness of this flow…this hidden movement that knocks on the doors of our hearts and minds…vying for a morsel of control. And unfortunately our society has promoted the “you do you” mentality to the point where people allow the current to take full control and then find themselves so far down stream, in a place they never wanted to be…in a place they weren’t meant to be.
My parents wanted us aware of the current because they desired us to play safely in the waters with them. They helped us locate where the current may be, even by swimming out themselves and showing us where the current would begin to press. Then they gave us tactics and methods for how to move through the current we were now cognizant of. My parents did not sit on the bank and point in fear at where they guessed the current would lie…no they swam beside us. They showed us how the current would try to push them and then they taught us how to move effectively against the pressing.
My friend, our God does not sit on the riverbank…He is in the water with you. He sent His son to show you how the ways of this world would try to press even Him…and then He demonstrated how to move effectively in this fallen world so no current, be it emotional or fleshly, could press us apart from Him.
The flesh fed current within us takes
Our desires
Our feelings
Our thoughts
Our pain
And impacts
How we desire
How we feel
How we think
How we respond
No one can see this current as well as you can feel it. So we must be the ones to acknowledge its existence for it is fed by the flesh and encouraged by the world and will continue to be until we learn to navigate through the pressing wisely. If we choose to be passive in this, the current will impact how we live, how we think, how we listen, how we speak and how we love this side of heaven.
If you aren’t sure where the current begins within you — it’s the place where you tend to derail and your thoughts go from understandable to unhealthy. For most this happens with emotional triggers which are specific events, situations, or people that evoke intense and often negative emotions in an individual. These can be related to past traumatic experiences, personal insecurities, or other deeply rooted beliefs. Emotional triggers are real — but sadly many just label them as a trigger, allowing whatever emotional response they feel is necessary and never learning how to swim effectively through the current…thus finding themselves far from where their Heavenly Father desires them to be.
Have you allowed the current to carry you? A current fed by the flesh and encouraged by the world? I have. Many times. While it’s easier to give in to how we are feeling, believe whatever will justify our thinking, and respond in whatever way seems logical to us…this current will only feel easy while you ride it and there is a costly price to ride and one you will feel when the current brings you downstream in the aftermath…in a place far from where God intended our souls to be.
If you are reading this from the place your current has swept you to…call on God.
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:13
Note how this verse in Romans doesn’t say “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be given a list of instructions and requirements in order to be saved.” How thankful I am for the grace of God. Let us not forget when Peter was walking out to Jesus on the water:
When he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him…
Matthew 14:30
Jesus did not delay when Peter cried out to him…and Jesus will not delay with you. But we must call upon Him! We must humble ourselves and acknowledge what we have allowed to happen and then, like the good good Father He is, God will bring you back to the place He intended for you to be. God knows this is challenging for us…He knows we have flesh tendencies at war with our souls…and so He doesn’t leave us in the dark to figure out how to navigate the current within. God has given us tactics for how to swim effectively in these waters through His word and through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
When we walk closely with God by reading His word, worshiping Him, and praying without ceasing, then we are falling instep with the Holy Spirit and when we are instep with the Holy Spirit we not only are less likely to fall prey to the force of the current within us — scripture says we will actually see fruit produced in our lives.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-25
So strap on your water shoes and spend some time with your Heavenly Father. By soaking in His word you will grow to understand the waters of your own soul. He will show you where the current is pressing…He will guide you on how to navigate the knockings of this world…and then witness how beautiful life can be when we live, or swim in sync with the His Holy Spirit.
