Why I Wrote Deep Water (And Why It Might Be the Book You Need Right Now)
Michael MaioShare
I did not write Deep Water because I had it figured out. I wrote it because I did not.
There was a season of my life where I was drowning. Not in water. In everything else. In the noise. In the emptiness that comes from building a life that looks impressive from the outside and feels hollow from the inside. In the space between knowing God exists and actually letting Him reach me.
Deep Water: When Strong Runs Out ↗ is not a self-help book. It is not a theology textbook. It is the story of what happens when a man who spent years running on his own strength finally runs out of it and has to decide whether to sink or surrender.
If you have ever been in that place, this book was written for you.
What Deep Water Is About
The subtitle says it plainly: When Strong Runs Out.
We live in a culture that worships strength. Hustle harder. Push through. Never let them see you sweat. And for a while, that works. You can power through a lot of pain on pure willpower. I did it for years. Trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, surrounded by money, ambition, and every distraction you can name. From the outside, I looked like a man who had figured life out.
I had not figured out anything.
Deep Water is the honest version of that story. The version that includes the anger at God, the emptiness behind the success, the stranger on the boardwalk who changed everything, and the slow, messy, beautiful process of learning what it actually means to let all that you do be done in love.
It is part memoir, part devotional, and entirely real.
Who This Book Is For
I wrote Deep Water for the person sitting in church who feels like a fraud. The man who prays but is not sure anyone is listening. The woman who holds it together for everyone else and falls apart alone. The person who grew up hearing about God but never felt like God was talking to them personally.
It is for the person who has been strong for so long that they forgot what it feels like to be honest.
You do not need a theology degree to read this book. You do not need to have your life together. You just need to be willing to admit that strong ran out and you need something deeper.
What You Will Find Inside
Deep Water walks through the real moments. Not the cleaned-up, Sunday-morning version. The actual moments.
The years on Wall Street where money replaced meaning. The night I cursed God and meant it. The stranger who walked up to my deck in Long Beach and invited me to a church I had never heard of. The first time the Holy Spirit opened Scripture to me during a Tuesday night life group and the Word went from words on a page to something alive. The slow process of learning to pray when you have no idea what to say. The discovery that surrender is not weakness; it is the beginning of everything.
Each chapter is built around Scripture. This is not a book where the Bible shows up as decoration. The Word is the foundation. Psalm 23 runs through the book like a thread because it is the psalm I kept coming back to in my deepest moments. The Lord is my shepherd. Even when I did not feel like following, He was still leading.
A Reading Plan for Deep Water
If you want to go through this book with intention rather than rushing through it, here is how I would suggest reading it:
Week 1: Chapters 1 through 3. The setup. Where I was before faith found me. Read it slowly. If anything sounds familiar, sit with that. Do not rush past the uncomfortable parts.
Week 2: Chapters 4 through 6. The turning point. The stranger, the church, the first encounters with real faith. This is where the story shifts. If you are journaling alongside this, the After Amen Prayer and Listening Journal ↗ is a good companion. Write down what God brings to mind as you read.
Week 3: Chapters 7 through 9. The deeper water. Learning to hear God, learning to let go of control, learning what love actually costs. These chapters are the heart of the book. Take your time.
Week 4: Chapters 10 through the end. The life on the other side. What it looks like to live from surrender instead of strength. What 1 Corinthians 16:14 means when you have actually tried to do everything in love and failed and tried again.
One chapter a day if you want to move quickly. One chapter every other day if you want to sit with it. There is no wrong pace. The only wrong move is reading it like a novel and never stopping to let it speak to you.
Pair It With These
Deep Water does not exist in a vacuum. It is one piece of a bigger conversation. Here are the companions:
If you want daily Scripture after finishing Deep Water, the Do Everything In Love: A 365-Day Devotional ↗ picks up where the book leaves off. One reading for every day of the year, built on the same foundation.
If you want a prayer practice alongside your reading, the After Amen Prayer and Listening Journal ↗ gives you space to write down what you prayed and what you heard. Prayer and reading together is where the real transformation happens.
If you are a man looking for something specifically built for your walk, Stand Firm: A 365-Day Devotional for Men of Faith ↗ was written for you.
If you want to understand why this brand exists and what 1614 means, start there. Deep Water is the long version of that story.
The Invitation
I do not know where you are right now. Maybe you are strong and everything is fine. Maybe strong ran out last Tuesday and you have been pretending ever since. Maybe you are somewhere in between, holding it together but wondering how long you can keep going.
Wherever you are, Deep Water was written from that exact place. Not from the mountaintop. From the valley. From the deep end. From the moment when a man who had tried everything else finally looked up and said: okay, God. I am done doing this on my own.
That is not the end of the story. That is where the story actually begins.
Get your copy of Deep Water: When Strong Runs Out ↗
"Let all that you do be done in love.", 1 Corinthians 16:14