Tossed by the Waves? Why It's OK
Waves. The ocean. Ever been out just enjoying the swell and role of the water out beyond where the waves crash in? Then all at once you find yourself rolled up in one of those waves, your spinning, salt water is going up your nose, your cheek scrapes on the sand below, your swim suit gets all twirled around as you are tossed up onto the beach! You spend a minute quickly collecting yourself, fixing your suit, wiping your eyes, and trying not to stumble as you toss your hair. You catch your breath and try to act like nothing happened. As you walk towards the beach, the slowed wave sweeps on ahead of you onto the beautiful white sand and begins to trickle back out to sea. The foam flowing backwards is now quiet. It tickles your toes. In a moment you've gone from a fast, furious tumble to the peace of the ocean salt air breeze and sounds of surf.
What just happened? For a while you felt peace out beyond where your feet could touch the bottom. Then without notice your were roughed up by one of the most beautiful creations - the ocean. You feel a little confused and shaken. Before long you are sitting there admiring the power and beauty of the ocean again. Did you catch that? You are able to admire it again.
We know that when we get back in the ocean it could happen again, it will happen again! At the same time we were being tossed about, we notice other's smoothly body surfing on top of the waves with exhilaration! We love the smiles and cheers of the ones who've conquered the waves! After a while we feel the call of the ocean. We go back in, a little more cautious and brave at the same time.
Life with God is much the same. We all rise and fall at different times. We are affirmed by those who can relate to the tossing and tumbling, and encouraged by the ones who testify of victory. All of the stories give us hope. He is loving us as the waves crash over us. He is making us stronger. He is letting us experience His help. Keep pushing into the deep, He is there. Ask for grace to feel what is necessary, and press in believing He is with you. I'm so glad God put Mark 9:24 in the Bible, "I believe, help my unbelief!" It's OK to be honest and pray that prayer. Because, ultimately, He has assured us that He has all our days thought out before we were born.
"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 139:16 Also, He is compassionate, as it says in Psalm 56:8-11, "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?...This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid."
O Lord help us trust in You. For Your Word says You have "measured the waters in the hollow of His ( Your ) hand..." You hold the oceans! Nothing catches You by surprise. May we find peace and hope in the truth. "Sanctify them ( us ) by the truth; your word is truth." John 17:17
"Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales?" Isaiah 40:11-12
Like the oceans, He has measured our lives. He holds us in the palm of His hand. The end of Isaiah 40 says, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable... the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
You Make Me Brave, Amanda Cook, Bethel Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UglO7SGUWk
Psalm 139, Sarah Reeves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KGK7zaO5dE
What just happened? For a while you felt peace out beyond where your feet could touch the bottom. Then without notice your were roughed up by one of the most beautiful creations - the ocean. You feel a little confused and shaken. Before long you are sitting there admiring the power and beauty of the ocean again. Did you catch that? You are able to admire it again.
We know that when we get back in the ocean it could happen again, it will happen again! At the same time we were being tossed about, we notice other's smoothly body surfing on top of the waves with exhilaration! We love the smiles and cheers of the ones who've conquered the waves! After a while we feel the call of the ocean. We go back in, a little more cautious and brave at the same time.
Life with God is much the same. We all rise and fall at different times. We are affirmed by those who can relate to the tossing and tumbling, and encouraged by the ones who testify of victory. All of the stories give us hope. He is loving us as the waves crash over us. He is making us stronger. He is letting us experience His help. Keep pushing into the deep, He is there. Ask for grace to feel what is necessary, and press in believing He is with you. I'm so glad God put Mark 9:24 in the Bible, "I believe, help my unbelief!" It's OK to be honest and pray that prayer. Because, ultimately, He has assured us that He has all our days thought out before we were born.
"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 139:16 Also, He is compassionate, as it says in Psalm 56:8-11, "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?...This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid."
O Lord help us trust in You. For Your Word says You have "measured the waters in the hollow of His ( Your ) hand..." You hold the oceans! Nothing catches You by surprise. May we find peace and hope in the truth. "Sanctify them ( us ) by the truth; your word is truth." John 17:17
"Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales?" Isaiah 40:11-12
Like the oceans, He has measured our lives. He holds us in the palm of His hand. The end of Isaiah 40 says, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable... the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
You Make Me Brave, Amanda Cook, Bethel Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UglO7SGUWk
Psalm 139, Sarah Reeves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KGK7zaO5dE
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