Having begun this day at 4:30 a.m., I trudged through the sand and plopped down. Front row seat for the Filipino sunrise over a sea that I don’t know the name of. (Sorry, that happens all the time when you're on the World Race). Our contacts and new friends are busy preparing for our day on the fishing boat – Filipinos like to get things started early. We’ve only been here 4 days, and already one of the church members has offered to take our team out on a day trip to a nearby island with a beautiful coral reef.
I’m excited, of course, because I have the opportunity to go on a fishing boat in the Philippines! However, at 5 a.m., my excitement is limited, my eyes are drooping, and I have a bit of a bad attitude. So I sit, taking in the sunrise over the water, and slowly I’m reminded of how much I love the ocean. I think I get my love for the ocean from my mother – I remember how she would always take some emotional moments on the beach, usually shedding a few tears, during the last day of our beach vacations. The metaphors comparing the ocean to God are endless, and yeah, I’m a sucker for them. But on this morning, just one thought stood out to me.
As I sat entranced by the gentle waves moving up and down along the shore, the Lord reminded me that His love for me is steady. Sometimes it feels weighty, crashing down like a powerful wave in a storm. And sometimes, like on this morning, it is soft and calm. But one thing is sure –
like the waves of the ocean that never cease, His love for me is constant.
After some more reflection on the beach, we were off. It took about 2 hours to get to the island, which was a good time to get to know some of the Filipinos that we had just met a few days before. There were about 20 people on the boat with us, and most of them are members of the church that we’re serving with. It felt a lot like a family outing. We spent the day swimming at the island and diving off of the boat into clear blue water over a coral reef. We ate all our meals on the boat, which mostly consisted of fresh fish, rice, and coffee.
On the ride back, I sat on the top deck of the boat, sun kissed (burned) and feeling that good kind of exhausted. I have a heart for discipling the younger generation, and this month, yet again; the Lord has placed some pretty cool younger guys in my path. This group of guys happens to be the most talented group I’ve come across on the Race. Which is so refreshing, praise the Lord. We spent all of the ride back jamming and singing worship songs together. The guys decided that I would sing a special number in church on Sunday, so they began to teach me a song in Tagalog, the local language. It is a beautiful song called “Kalakip Ng Awitin”. I struggled with some of the words, but picked up the tune pretty quick. The chorus of the song I was singing, translated into English, says, “Like a sea that never ceases to make waves, so my heart will never grow tired of praising You.” On hearing that, I had to take a moment to chuckle to myself at how cool God is.
Without even knowing the meaning, I was singing back to the Lord the same song He had sung to me that morning.
I think that this is what I want everyday of my life to look like – an offering of loving praise to my God who loved me first. I want to turn my ear to listen to the Lord first, and then reflect what I hear. My worship must be fueled by hearing His voice. I cannot pull any more worship from my feeble flesh; I can only give back to the Lord what He has first given me.
This day that began with the Lord singing His love over me ended with me singing of how much I love Him.
Friends, are you taking time to listen to the love song that the Lord is singing to you? Or are you too caught up in trying to perfect your acts of worship to Him?
Your Father wants you to know the depth of His love for YOU.
