Yesterday I decided to walk not my usual route but along the ocean. I have a favorite spot where the shore is made for walking. Lately, life has been drowning in turmoil. I sensed I deeply needed the peace of the shallow shore. Once more, God proved differently. It was amongst the roar of the waves that God’s soft calling was intended for me to hear — and listen.
Imagine my complete shock when I discovered that in the couple weeks since last I sat by the ocean, the flat shoreline had been changed into a steep incline. Add to this the unusual occurrence of the waves breaking just off the coast. Quite naturally, my reaction was another, “Really, God???”.
My hour walk became one of the most aerobic hikes I’ve ever taken. I could barely keep upright, but stubborn me labored on. “Certainly, God has a message” filled my thinking. He did, and it surfaced as I struggled through my “leisurely” walk.
At times, I literally had to stand still and just plant my feet and full weight in the sand not to be tumbled over by the waves crashing onto the shore. Then I realized, such is life! When we are fighting forces beyond our control, and our progress seems (and is) at a standstill, the only way to stay afloat is to sink into the foundation of God as our life preserver. Only then, no matter how the waves of life threaten to knock us down, can God keep us unsinkable. What’s more, between the waves, we must keep going because that is what God’s children are called to do.
Our rock solid, well balanced ground, at times, does disappear; but we must not let such moments ground us into giving in and giving up. Instead, we are christened into Faith that God always anchors our feet, our hearts and our souls in His upholding power and strength — especially, when we meet the unbalancing waves of life.
The inharmonious sound of the ocean orchestra made me strain to hear my earbuds of Christian music. Then I realized, God’s lyrics do not need to be loud and clearly audible to carry us. If His words are engraved in our souls, nothing (not even the roar of the sea) can drown out God’s voice.
As my trek neared its end, I understood one last message. Be it high or low tide, God walks with us on the inclines of all our shoreline journeys. Never will God’s set of footprints be washed away from carrying us when our human endurance is gone and the only human strength we have left is to dive into the port of His all powerful arms. “When you pass through the water, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…” (Isaiah 43:2 ESV)
Uplifted in a Broken Down World 