From the sermon preached on August 23, 2026
Trusting God when a part of your life feels dead is not about pretending everything is fine. It means believing, the way the prophet Ezekiel did in a vision of dry riverbeds and a dead sea, that God can bring resurrection where nothing else can reach.
That is the promise underneath the sermon “Prepare the Way: The Way of the Garden,” the final message in an eleven week series on the practices of following Jesus. Pastor Rich Romero opened Ezekiel 47, an old vision most people skip past, and found in it one of Scripture’s clearest pictures of trusting God with the parts of life that feel finished. A river flows out from the temple, deepens with every step, and turns a dead sea into a garden.
That is not just an ancient image. It is an invitation to anyone who has been standing at the edge, watching everyone else experience God, wondering if there is more available to them too. This post walks through that vision and what it means to actually step in.
Where Does the River of Living Water Come From?
Ezekiel’s vision opens with a detail worth slowing down for: this river of living water was never made by human hands. It flows from underneath the temple threshold, from the place where God’s presence dwelt, not from a canal someone engineered or a system someone built. The river of living water is God given from its very first drop, and that single detail changes everything about how we read the rest of the vision.
Scripture connects this same river of living water all the way back to Genesis chapter 3, when God walked with Adam in the garden in the cool of the day, long before anything had gone wrong. God’s original design was never a religious system standing between Him and the people He made; it was presence, unhurried, daily, face to face. Ezekiel’s picture of the river breaking into a dead sea is that same presence reaching a world that had grown dry.
John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, meaning Jesus Himself is the fulfillment of what Ezekiel saw centuries earlier. He did not wait for people to clean themselves up before He came near; trusting God starts right here, with the realization that He moved first. That is good news for anyone who assumes they have to fix their life before they can trust Him with it.
One honest step you can take today is to notice where you have been trying to manufacture your own peace instead of receiving what God has already provided.
What Does Surrendering Control to God Actually Look Like?
Ezekiel does not just see the river from a distance. He is led into it: ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep, and finally into water so deep his feet can no longer touch the bottom. That progression is a picture of surrendering control to God one honest layer at a time, not all at once and not from a distance.
In the ankle deep and knee deep water, a person can still turn back whenever they want, but surrendering control to God gets harder the deeper the water goes, because waist deep water is slower, heavier, and asks for real commitment. Pastor Rich described taking his daughters snorkeling with stingrays that same summer. One daughter stayed on the shore the entire time, safe and dry, while her sisters experienced something she never will unless she is willing to get in the water.
That is what staying in control often costs us. We watch other people experience answered prayer, healing, and peace, while we stay ankle deep out of fear, distrust, or simple comfort. Surrendering control to God is not reckless abandonment; it is choosing to trust that He will not let you drown, even when your feet can no longer reach the ground.
One honest step you can take today is to name the one area you have been keeping just out of God’s reach and bring it to Him in prayer.
How Does Going Deeper With God Change What You Produce?
By the end of Ezekiel’s vision, the dead sea itself is transformed. Salt water turns fresh, fish multiply, and trees grow along both banks bearing fruit every month, with leaves used for healing. Going deeper with God is never just a private feeling; it changes what grows in and around a person’s life.
Jesus described this same reality in John 15:5, saying He is the vine and we are the branches, and that apart from Him we can do nothing. Going deeper with God means staying connected to Him the way a branch stays connected to a vine, not performing for Him from a distance. John 7:38 adds that whoever believes in Jesus will have rivers of living water flowing from within them, not just around them.
This is the difference between knowing about God and actually going deeper with God: one produces information, while the other produces fruit such as patience in a hard marriage, generosity that was not there before, and forgiveness that finally lets go. Trusting God is what makes this possible, because none of it is manufactured through effort.
One honest step you can take today is to ask God what fruit He wants to grow in you this season, and then wait for His answer instead of rushing past it.
What Does Ezekiel 47 Teach Us About Trusting God With Your Whole Life?
Ezekiel 47:9 says wherever the river flows, everything will live, and the vision shows that life arrives in stages rather than all at once. The prophet is led through ankle deep, knee deep, and waist deep water before reaching a river no one could walk across. Each stage represents a real and different level of trusting God, not a test to pass or fail.
Depth in the River | What It Represents |
Ankle deep | A small, honest first step of trust |
Knee deep | Willingness to keep moving instead of retreating |
Waist deep | A commitment that costs something real |
Feet off the ground | Full dependence on God instead of self |
Ezekiel 47 never suggests skipping stages. Trusting God is often just as real in the ankle deep water as it is further in, because the size of the step matters less than the honesty behind it.
You Do Not Have to Wade Into This Alone
Feeling dead inside while everyone around you seems to have it together is a lonely, disorienting place to live, whether that deadness shows up in a marriage, a career, a friendship, or simply your own sense of hope. Most people carrying that weight do not talk about it out loud, which only makes the water feel colder. If you have been standing at the edge wondering whether trusting God is even possible from where you are, you are not the only one asking that question this week.
Generation Church meets in Coral Gables and welcomes people from across Miami, including Brickell, Coconut Grove, and South Kendall, who are looking for a place to take that next step without pretense. Whether you are driving in from the Grove or just a few minutes from Augusto Street, there is a seat for you this Sunday.
Your Next Step Into the River
Ezekiel’s vision ends with a garden growing where a dead sea used to be, fed entirely by a river that came from God’s presence and not from human effort. Pastor Rich’s charge was simple: there is more available, not because you have not done enough, but because trusting God is a lifestyle of continually stepping back into the water. Whatever feels dead in your life right now was never meant to stay that way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to fully surrender to God?
In this sermon, full surrender means bringing every part of your life to God, not just the areas that feel safe or manageable. It is the posture of saying “here I am” without holding anything back, the way Ezekiel’s vision moves a person from ankle deep water all the way into a river too deep to stand in. It is not about performing correctly; it is about releasing control.
How do you go deeper with God?
Going deeper with God usually happens the same way Ezekiel experienced the river: one step at a time. Small, honest steps such as praying out loud for the first time, giving generously, or having a hard conversation you have been avoiding all count as real movement toward Him. Depth is measured by honesty, not by how dramatic the step looks from the outside.
How do you surrender to God completely?
Complete surrender is less a single decision and more a daily posture of trusting God with whatever feels uncertain that day. Pastor Rich described it as needing God’s strength, wisdom, and forgiveness every single day rather than only in a crisis. It grows through practices such as prayer, fasting, and community rather than willpower alone.
What is the significance of Ezekiel 47 and the river of life?
Ezekiel 47 records a vision of water flowing from God’s temple that deepens in stages and eventually turns a dead sea into a thriving garden. It is one of Scripture’s clearest pictures of how God’s presence brings resurrection life to anything that feels finished. The same imagery reappears in Revelation 22, pointing forward to Jesus making all things new.
What does the Bible mean by living water?
Living water is Jesus’ own description of the life He offers, found in passages such as John 7:38, where He says rivers of living water will flow from within anyone who believes in Him. It is not a one-time gift but an ongoing source that keeps flowing as a person stays connected to Him. Ezekiel’s vision in the Old Testament pictures the very same reality centuries in advance.
