While in Thailand, we were able to visit some of God’s
greatest works in the form of the beaches of Phuket. See for yourself, it’s
quite beautiful.
I had the opportunity to go snorkeling while visiting the
beach, which was crazy. I saw some amazingly colored fish and undersea
wildlife. Snorkeling was such a cool outlet for me. I could swim out as far as
I wanted, pretend I was alone for the first time in months, and just marvel at
God. There was a point where I got caught up in the current and was being
pulled toward the rocks, so I swam faster and harder than I have in a long time
and finally got to a place where I felt safe from the rocks. I heard God asking
me to rest, let Him carry me, and look down. I saw a seaweed plant dancing
around below and as I started moving my arms, it followed me. Now I realize
this sounds ridiculous, but it followed my every move for the next 5 or 10
minutes and when I finally looked up, I was surrounded by all kinds of fish. I was reminded of Psalm 37:4 which says, “Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.” I focused more on the first
half than the last, but as I re-read it now, the last half poses a new
question. What are the desires of my heart? Are they selfish desires concerning
what I want and what would make me more comfortable, or are they Godly desires
concerning His will for my life and concerning His glory? I’m reading a book
right now called Radical, by David Platt, where Platt concludes that the reason
we’ve been created is to, “Enjoy God’s grace, and extend his glory.” He writes,
“This is the final, ultimate, all-consuming, glorious, guaranteed,
overwhelmingly global purpose of God in Scripture. It is the great why of God.
God blesses his people with extravagant grace so they might extend his glory to
all peoples on earth.”
I want to delight myself in God, not to receive answers to
my own fleshly desires, but to align my heart, and consequently my desires,
with his. To make Him known.
If I could recommend something to you, go to your nearest
bookstore (spend a good deal of time there, in my honor, please) and pick up a copy of
Radical. You just might love it.
