I’m fortunate to live on a lake.  I’m even more fortunate to be able to fish on that lake every now and then.  Since the underwater vegetation is rather thick along our shore, the best way to fish from our dock, (that is, the least frustrating way), is with a bobber.  Which means the best time to fish off our backyard is when the surface of the water is calm.  The calmer the better.

Sometimes the water is so still that the surface becomes an exceptional mirror.  (Currently providing a very lovely “double” view of the changing leaves on the far shore!)  When in this ultra-calm state, the surface isn’t only a reflection of God’s beauty above the waters, but also a revealer of some of God’s creation below.

When we look at a lake, we tend to see the surface and not really reflect much on what is happening below it.  Yes, we are aware that there is a whole other world in its depths, but we can’t see it, can’t really understand it, so we don’t really think about it too much.  (At least I don’t.)

Of course, if we’re trying to hook a fish or two, we give it a bit of thought.  What kinds of fish might be there?  Where might they be hanging about?  What might induce them to ingest my hook?

Other than that: unseen and unconsidered.  It’s a dimension unfamiliar to us, so what’s occurring there doesn’t register.

But when the water is exceptionally still, it provides a glimpse into the activity below the surface.  And there’s a lot more happening than we realize!

Certainly, if you pay attention while near water, you will notice the rings made by rising fish … even when the water is somewhat turbulent.  On a smooth surface, especially in the morning and evening, those rings are everywhere.  If near or on the water, perhaps one will even hear the slurp of a hungry fish sucking in a dead or dying insect, or hear (and maybe even see) the splash of a leaping fish – whether due to feeding, fleeing, or purely for “fun.”

Most fascinating to me is to see the funnels on the flat surface formed by fish swimming just below.  Sometimes the funnel is large; sometimes small.  Sometimes brief; sometimes prolonged.  Sometimes straight; sometimes not.  Sometimes incredibly swift; other times slower. 

Even though the fish are unseen, their presence is revealed by the displaced water forming wave paths above.  One can’t always discern the size or depth of the fish, but there’s no doubt that they’re there.  

Fascinating.  Also frustrating when one notices some paths leading right past or under one’s bobber, with no pause for a nibble!

I marvel to see those moving paths sometimes crisscross.  Is one fish higher and one lower?  (They must be.)  Even so, they have to be close to each other and still close enough to the surface for their movements to register.  

And the sheer number of funnels!  It’s frenetic.  There is a LOT going on under the surface!  Far more than we imagine.

So it is with our God.

We tend to be one-dimensional creatures, taking note only of those things in our sphere; the physical and observable world forms our “reality.”  We notice what registers with our five senses.

But there is another dimension; the spiritual one.  It’s largely unseen but no less real.  And that’s the sphere where the Lord loves to work!  He certainly is active in the physical realm.  He created all things, “and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). 

But he does his best and biggest work in the spiritual realm.  It’s work often unnoticed, but critically important and eternally significant.

Yet if we turn our eyes of faith to the seemingly still surface of the spiritual waters, we will notice the hints of a frenzy of activity in the spiritual depths below.  God is working.  Always working.  When criticized by his enemies for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5:17).

So too is the Holy Spirit who enlivens and empowers the Word of God.  He assures us this Word ”will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).  More wonderful work by our wonderful God!  In souls and minds and lives!

We often can’t discern the nature of God’s activity, and usually not its substance.  At least not in the present.  But it’s clear that God has a LOT going on, and it’s all good for those who love him. (Romans 8:28).

Confused?  Discouraged?  Anxious?  Wondering where God is and what He is doing?  Be assured that under the surface your God is doing incredible things!

There is great peace and joy in that truth.