Every year there is a wildlife spectacle on the Dee estuary (in NW England), when the high Spring tide floods the saltmarsh and sometimes comes right up to the sea wall. Hundreds of small animals are driven inshore; the roosting and feeding birds fly up and wheel around – and the gulls and birds of prey gather for the feast, Birdwatchers came from all around to watch the spectacle. I was there on the day of the highest tide of the year – over ten metres – standing on the rocks of all that remains of an old ruined quay, and as the waters ran in across the marsh and past where I was standing I sensed the Lord speaking through it:

“The waters are rising. The waters are rising and covering the low ground. Those who dwell in the marshes will rise up and panic, running from the racing tide or wheeling around and crying: “Where is my resting place? Where is my supply?” But I say I’m flooding the marshes. Even now you are seeing My waters rise, and have seen the floods begin, but I say that a time will come and is coming shortly when the flood will speed up. There will be times of suddenly, when the waters break through in different places one after the other, and men will run between them with their sandbags to try to plug the breeches, but the waters will continue to rise and the streams run together until they change the landscape completely. This will happen quickly. Nothing will stand before My Waters. So I say to you now, come onto higher ground, find your resting place on My rock. Come now, while you can. I will feed you and keep you safe, I will give you all that you need as you watch in amazement what I the Lord am doing. And when the floods recede you’ll see a different landscape, and you will walk with Me in the places where I will take you.”

Hebrews 6: 16-18 says that we “have fled for refuge to lay hold of the Hope set before us. This Hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stead fast, and which enters the presence behind the veil.”

The only safe place where we can flee for refuge is in the Presence of God. While the world flees from the waters, we must flee to the One who holds them in His hand. He will “show us the path of life, and in His presence is fullness of Joy.” Psalm 16:11. The call to “come up higher” has been echoing round the Church increasingly in the last few years, whether this has been in prophetic words given at large and small assemblies, released in prophetic forums or written in books. It tends to be an exhortation that some run to, thirsty for more of the Holy Spirit, and which others leave for those that do the running. The “higher ground” is seen as that place of more intense spiritual experience; of deeper love and more profound worship in the presence of God, where we may well walk in greater spiritual authority and more effective ministry but which is not so relevant to our day to day lives. And indeed Jesus does want us there because He loves us and wants to surround us with His love. But this is only part of the story: He is calling us to higher ground because it is the place of safety, the place where we will receive His directions and practical provision, as well as the anointing for ministry to those who are struggling in the flood and are reaching out to be pulled onto the rock themselves. It is an urgent call as well as an exhortation, and those who ignore it risk being among those caught in the flood. Jer 12:5 (which I’ve referred to elsewhere on these pages) becomes increasingly relevant with each passing day:

“If in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?”

So what’s stopping you? The waters ae rising. Come up higher!