Almost every single one of us has been to a beach. For those of us who were fortunate to grow up near a lake or an ocean, traveling to the beach was an every month, every weekend, maybe even an every day ordeal. Going to the beach meant going away to relax. It meant forgetting the problems of the world and of your life as you sat alongside the waters, feeling the wind blow through your hair, feeling the sand between your toes. Going to the beach meant you left every insecurity, every problem, every moment of unrest behind. Going to the beach meant it was time to be careless and free, to grab a drink or two and to listen to music as you felt the warm sun beat down on your body.
What about the beach makes it so liberating to us? Why is it that every vacation destination usually starts with the thought that there needs to be a beach there in order for it to be a real vacation? There in an innate nature about the beach that beckons us to it time and time again in order for us to completely relax and allow for our bodies to recuperate. This is because I believe God created the beaches to give us a deeper understanding of what life is all about. Let’s examine how the different parts of a beach exemplify life.
Water:
It is the main attraction of any lake or beach. Water is the reason why we go to the beach in the first place. Whether it’s swimming, boating, wake boarding, or simply wading in the shallow end, water allows for each of us to experience the beach in the fullest manner possible. We feel most free when on or in the water.
God is this water. He provides us with fun, excitement, and refreshment while also providing us with a sincere sense of freedom. Every living thing, whether in the water or out, relies on water to survive. In the same way, we rely on Him to give us eternal life so that we may experience real life outside of the confines of what we consider worldly reality. This water also represents His love, so vast and so abundant. It covers and embraces all who are in Him. But God does much more than just sit there and exist, which leads me to the next item…
Sand:
Sand is what is formed after a rock undergoes abrasion from water and other rocks. This process takes decades, centuries even, to get what we see today when we first step our feet onto the beach. Many of these rocks that undergo abrasion are found on the floor of the lake or ocean, unseen by the naked eye. These rocks represent our problems in life. Many times, we undergo turmoil that no one else can see, and we let them lay there, touched by no one, not even ourselves. Sand represents the resolution to these problems. Because these rocks have been broken down, the remains carries a much lighter mass and are allowed to be brought to the surface and washed up onto the beach. What beauty we see on the shores of the lake or ocean is the result of abrasion.
Often times in life we undergo situations that throw more and more rocks into the bottom of our own lake of life. At times, it may seem as though we aren’t beautiful because we don’t have a beach, meaning we haven’t resolved these issues. However, through time, we realize that our beaches have grown and grown into a gorgeous spectacle due to the breakdown and resolution of these problems through time. We realize that the water (God) made us beautiful because he broke down those issues for us and allowed for us to be beautiful through it.
Sun:
Beach trips can usually never be completely successful without excessive sunshine. Usually we do not enjoy the beach unless we can experience the warmth that comes with it. The sun in this metaphor is like the Word of God. We cannot experience God in His fullness if we do not receive the truth in his Word. We may investigate the water (God) but we certainly wouldn’t experience it like we would if we were to bask in the sunshine. In order for the beach trip to be the best we have experienced, we need to dive into the Word each and every day.
Entertainment:
Whether it be music, beach volleyball, grabbing a drink or two, jumping off the pier, you name it, each event represents those in our lives who make the beach worthwhile. These can be friends, family, coworkers, and mentors. Many of us, however, have experienced beach days where there are specific events or individuals that have ruined large sections of our getaway because of how the event went or how the people acted. These represent bad influences in our lives. Our beach experience can be great as long as we surround ourselves with people that will love, grow, and nurture us in ways we cannot do ourselves. Each moment of spiritual growth represents a game of beach volleyball, or a ride in the tube on the water. These will be people we remember for a lifetime because they contributed to our lives being a positive one.
Final Thoughts: God came to Abraham and described the Christian family as a beach, blessing him while saying that “(his) descendants will be beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.” Whether we love the beach or not, we are all apart of the blessing God bestowed upon Abraham, and we all are tied to a beach one way or another 🙂
– N.J. Shear
