The Beach

I love the beach.   There is something about the ocean that stills my soul and brings me peace.  It doesn't matter when or why I go, or who I go wit;, God always finds me at the ocean.  He shows me His sovereignty and majesty in the power  and roar of the waves as they clash against the rocks and the shoreline, pulling sand and driftwood back into its depths.  He reminds me of  His never ending faithfulness as the I watch the repetition of the waves maintaining the ocean tides, controlled by the moon - all created by the will of my Almighty God.  I'm reminded that though I am as small as a single speck of sand, God knows me by name.  As one of my favorite Psalms says:  

 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."          (Psalm 139:13-16)

There's something about the beach that just naturally causes me to relax.  Perhaps its the consistent rhythm of the waves or the wind that always seems to blow.  It could be that I go "unplugged."  The computer stays at home and so I'm not checking e-mail or Facebook.  My phone doesn't ring.  There aren't chores to be done or things "I have to do" (or think I have to do).  I go to the ocean expecting to relax and so I do. I forget work.  I forget my responsibilities and my worries.  I just relax.  

I go to the ocean and "I'm still."  My mind is silent.  My heart is quiet.  And God finds me.  You see, God is always there and so it's not me who needs to find God.  It's me who gets lost.  Lost in my busyness.  Lost in my stuff.  Lost in my living this life on my own thing.

But when I go to the beach and I am reminded of the bigness of God all around me, and then I quiet myself - there He is.  And when I'm still, God and I have amazing conversations.  He speaks to my heart and I listen and I hear Him and I am filled.  And when it's time to leave the beauty of the beach, I return to my live refreshed and renewed and filled with the presence of God - who is always with me.  I'm just not always still enough to hear Him.

   "Be still, and know that I am God;" Psalm 46:10