Skimming the Surface

Job 11:1–20

Are you seeking to know the depths of God, or are you just skimming the surface?

Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
They are high as the heavens, what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? (Job 11:7–8)

Let me repeat the question: Are you seeking to know the depths of God, or are you just skimming the surface? Only you know the answer. Our current culture is so busy we can become proficient at faking it. We can look like we’re going to the depths when, in fact, we’re just skating. So you must answer for yourself. Are you seeking to know the depths of God? Or do you find that you’re just attending a lot of religious meetings, reading a few religious books, and learning all the religious-sounding language.

One of Larry Crabb’s books is titled The Pressure’s Off. In it he writes,

As a culture, present-day Christianity has redefined spiritual maturity. The reformers knew we were saved to glorify God. We moderns live to be blessed. The mature among us are now thought to be the successful, the happy, the effective people on top of things and doing well . . . We’re more attracted to sermons, books, and conferences that reveal the secrets to fulfillment . . . than to spiritual direction that leads us through affliction into the presence of the Father.1

We seem more interested in managing life into a comfortable existence than in letting God spiritually transform us through life’s hardships.

That cuts to the quick, doesn’t it? Don’t run from the hardship. Don’t seek a friend who’ll help you get out from under it quickly. Stay there. Stay in it. The Lord God will get you through it. As a result you’ll stop skating.

This question is for you to answer: personally, introspectively, truly. Are you seeking to know the depths of God, or are you just skimming the surface?

  1. Lawrence J. Crabb, Jr., The Pressure's Off (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2002), 183. All rights reserved.
Taken from Great Days with the Great Lives by Charles Swindoll. Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com

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Accuracy, clarity, and practicality all describe the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles R. Swindoll. Chuck is the chairman of the board at Insight for Living and the chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary. Chuck also serves as the senior pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, where he is able to do what he loves most—teach the Bible to willing hearts. His focus on practical Bible application has been heard on the Insight for Living radio broadcast since 1979.