Thoughts from West Palm Beach

The blue ocean sends waves that break along the shore with steady, controlled force. It’s as if the ocean is overflowing – stretching further than the horizon, it seems eternally vast.

The salty waves move so consistently – sometimes strong and vengeful, yet always graciously refreshing and peaceful. The tide paces in and out; there is a perfect timing for everything. The sea is not dictated by human means or reason.

I feel so small standing in front of the ocean, but so do my problems and my agenda. I am freed by the reminder that my feeble attempts to control life are worthless. I remember that I can rely on my great Provider and Justifier to meet my every need.

I see God revealing himself to me through the waves: “I am faithful, I am strong. I am constant, I bring peace. I am the great judge and am capable of complete wrath – yet I love you and your debt has been paid. Why don’t you see me in every aspect of life? How can you look at the ocean and not see divinity? I am the Creator. I command the ocean and tell it where to start and stop. How much more will I care for something created in my very image? My power exists far beyond the waves and the current, and I want my power to exist in YOU.”

Being at the beach provides a great opportunity for “inner solitude.” It helps me to allow God to make me so solid within that I can have outward peace, even around lots of people. I am trying to be “silent.” Not so much literally, but by listening to God in the midst of clamor.

I read this on the beach today:

“We fear so deeply what we think other people see in us that we talk in order to straighten out their understanding…Silence is one of the deepest Disciplines of the Spirit simply because it puts the stopper on all self-justification. One of the fruits of silence is the freedom to let God be our justifier. We don’t need to straighten other people out.” –Richard Foster

The God who created the ocean is also my Justifier. I have nothing to fear!