There is something so powerful about the ocean. First there is the vastness of ocean, the seemingly never-ending water. Then there are the waves. Standing in the ocean, the force of a wave can literally knock you over. If you are able to stand firm against the strength of the wave, beware of the sand being sucked from beneath you as the undercurrent of the wave flowing back out could just as easily take you for a ride. The sheer sound of the waves are enough to call you to attention, and are what keeps my children from entering the ocean's waters.
While it's true that the sound of the crashing waves is thunderous, this is one of the many things about the ocean that draws me there. I love that rhythmic sound, the warmth of the sun, the beauty of the colors - tans, whites, blues. When I am at the ocean I am struck by the vastness of God and his power. It's peaceful and yet I also can't help but to think about the irony of how life can feel at times like standing in those waves. Transitions can knock me over - and there are many things pulling ever so subtly like those undercurrents. Standing firm can seem like gearing up for the next wave to hit and can be exhausting.
Thankfully I was reminded that God cares about everything I am experiencing. He created everything - the waves, the birds, the jellyfish, the grains of sand, and me - and knows exactly what I need.
I can't go to the beach without thinking about these verses: (Psalm 139:1-18)
O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say,"Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,"even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well....in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
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