I Love The Ocean

We went to Sanibel Island for a short vacation after Christmas in 07’ and spent most of our time “relaxing” on the beach.  We ended up either in the ocean or next to it for the better part of three days.  

As I reflected on that time I thought about how different those days were one from another.

As I pondered that time the thought occurred to me:

 

“It’s funny how when you listen for the voice of God you hear him speak.”  

In Numbers 14:21 the Lord speaks of  His glory filling the whole earth; as I  contemplated that verse and those few days I realized all over again how true this verse is.  I not only saw the wonders God created but He taught me something through them too.  I’d like to share some of those insights.

 The first day we awoke to a very dense fog.  When it finally cleared off we were able to see the ocean really well.  But until the sun burned the fog away... you would have never known it was there.

The fog, like sin, kept us from seeing the beauty God created.  He has  something wonderful for us but without the Son to burn off the fog, we’ll never see it.

The next day we awakened to a clear blue sky and a warm easy breeze.  The water was clear as well.  We were able to see all kinds of ocean critters. Mark and Izaak would go out to what we ended up calling the “Living Zone”  and found octopus, sting-rays, starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars just to name a few.  But we  were unable to find any really good (and empty, as the live ones are illegal to take) shells.   

The third day we rose to a sunny day but the water was far more choppy.  We were really disappointed at first until we started finding lots of empty shells.  We would walk along the shore about a foot or two out and feel with our feet for shells.  Then if you felt something or perhaps caught a glimpse of a shell you’d reach for it quickly.  You might come up with nothing, a broken shell, or you might come up with a beautiful whole (and empty!) shell.  

As I was walking in the water I started asking the Lord, “What would you have me learn from this?”  and these are some of the things He showed me.

A few of the questions that came to mind were: “Anna, what did you experience when you wouldn’t get into the cold water?  What could you see from the shore?”  

I said, “Dead shells, broken shells, common shells, a lovely view, and the ability to hang out in my comfort zone.  Oh yeah, and sand in your shorts.”  HA!

Then I felt the Lord asking me, “What do you have to do to get to the living zone in the ocean?”   

I replied, “Well for one, timing is important.  If you get out to the ocean to early or too late you miss the low tide and don’t really get to see much.  For another, you have to actually get in the water.  Which is chilly.   So it’s out of your comfort zone you go.   What’s more, you would have to reach into the unknown.  I also noticed there was the potential of getting hurt--but it was well worth it.” 

Then God asked me, “What are the benefits of the living zone?”

Joyfully I replied, “Beauty revealed, an adventure experienced, excitement, pleasure, and diversity.  The hope of things unseen. I knew the shells were there--I just had to reach for them in faith.”  

So happily I kept up my search and rescue mission of gathering these beautiful shells.

Later in the day, however, I could feel the Lord saying something else entirely to me~only this time I didn’t listen soon enough.  

I kept having that feeling of having someone tap you on the shoulder~which may have been attached to the burning sensation I was having on my legs.  

He kept telling me, “Anna, you have to know when to stop.”  But instead I just kept looking and looking.  Later I realized that if you don’t stop to feed & care for yourself you will get sick and sunburned to boot!  

In addition, after continuing on to long past the time you should~ you lose the joy of looking.  After a while it became more and more like work.  It seemed to me that Jesus was shaking his head and saying, “Anna, you have to pace yourself.  You have know when to rest, and know when to move on!  You can’t stay on the beach forever.  There’s work to be done.  But you can enjoy the trip.”

So I sat down later and took a look at the differences between the Calm water and the Turbulent water to see what else I could learn.

I noticed:

When the water was: Calm

*I tended to find live shells only

*The water was clear.

*I was able to see things in the living zone easier

*The empty shells were usually broken into pieces

*The collectable shells were hidden deep under the sand

When the water was: Turbulent

*I tended to find the empty shells

*The shells we found were more likely to be whole

*You had to reach into the water either blindly or with just a glimpse of what you were going for.  It took faith & action!

*Sometimes you came up with nothing, but sometimes the result was a beautiful whole shell.  A keeper.

*The desirable shells were pressed up to the top by the turbulent waters. 

Now you may be wondering what the Water  has to do with God... but here’s some of what I gathered.  

The clear water is like when life is going well.  Life is good, the view is pretty and you’re in your comfort zone.  But life can seem common and boring.  This is also the prime time for drifting away from the Lord.   

The turbulent water is an analogy for when life is not smooth sailing.  You can get hurt and the pressure can seem overwhelming.  But if you will let Him, the Lord can redeem turbulent times.  Just like a diamond is created from coal under pressure and the large, beautiful, whole shells are churned up by rough waters, you too can discover beauty in the pain.   Also, faith is exercised.  The bible states that without faith you cannot please GOD.  In exercising faith by pressing on and pushing through the tough times you can grow closer to the Father and please him as well.   By sticking close to The Shepherd we are safe and well cared for.

One last thought I’d like to share is this:  Just like the Israelites had to follow the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night in order to follow God, so too do we have to go where God goes.  We won’t always be in the same place or doing the same thing.   We won’t always be in our comfort zone. But we will NEVER be bored!