Splendid mysteries in deep waters

It is amazing how the smallest things can bring back the biggest memories. A song on the radio takes you back to a first date. An old hymn transfers you back to a dusty old church and the first day of faith. The smell of chocolate chip cookies in the afternoon can instantly transport you back to grandma's front porch with a cookie in one hand, an ice-cold glass of milk in the other and a plate balanced on your lap.

God has a way of bringing things into our lives that will bring us back to him. A song, a conversation, a word of encouragement, a meal can all transport us back to a day, a place, a time that profoundly shaped our personal story.

God's purpose and passion are never revealed to us as simply as lucky numbers in a fortune cookie. Divine design demands an investigation. Proverbs 20:5 reads, "The purpose of a man's heart is deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out."

Imagine trying to explain the depths of the deepest waters in the eighth century B.C. The depths are unknown, the depths are mysterious. Deep water is dark and cannot be easily penetrated, yet its mysteries are splendid and its treasures magnificent.

Deep water is symbolic for the purpose deep within the heart of men and women. The discovery of individual purpose takes one who will wrestle with the complexities of the heart, soul and mind to draw their unique purpose out from the dark and into the light.

Memories are prompted by events in the present reminding us of the past in order to point us to the future. Drawing out purpose takes into account all of the experiences you don't care to remember and the ones you never want to forget to help reveal the future that has been divinely orchestrated. God never intends for harm to come to any of his children, yet only his good nature can redeem what is destructive. Humanity, God's good creation, is extremely complex. The deep water of your heart is longing to be explored and drawn out.

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father and serves as the associate pastor at the First Baptist Church in Jackson. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.