This blog with be just a few anecdotal lessons that the Lord has shared with me while spending time on the beach.
First is the incredible depth of his creativity. As I was walking on the beach last night I saw small, vibrantly blue glowing things. Turns out they are bioluminescent plankton! They were super cool! A wave would wash up and a few glowing blue things, little bigger than a strawberry seed, would be left behind on the sand. They were like lightning bugs of the sea.
(This is not my photo, but this is the most accurate picture of what they looked like.)
Along with the bioluminescent plankton we saw giant jelly fish! We think they were being fished off shore, and once they had been caught and gutted, their giant, jelly bodies washed up on the beach. They were about the size of a bike tire and had the texture of stingray.
(Again, not my picture, but pretty close to what they looked like.)
These are two things I have never seen, and never thought I would be able to see in person washed up on the beach. Imagine all the things in the ocean that we have not even discovered yet. There are tons of organisms that exist solely for the purpose of glorifying the L0rd and embodying his creativity. We all exist for that purpose, but the ones that we have yet to find make that reality so evident. We don’t know how they affect the operation of the ocean’s ecosystem, but the L0rd created them, so they have a purpose. If nothing else to glorify him.
—————————-
Something else the L0rd has been sharing with me is the beauty of his faithfulness. The first day walking up to the beach I felt like a little kid seeing the waves for the first time. Now I just expect them to be there. I so easily forget the awe inspiring beauty of the beach. Like the ocean’s waves and tide, I forget that the Lord’s faithfulness will never change. I forget the jaw dropping beauty of his majesty. His faithfulness if BEAUTIFUL! There is strength in his faithfulness. Like the waves, his strength and love have the potential to completely overwhelm you, and making the choice to go swimming will allow you to enjoy his love more and more. Choose in. Choose to get in over and over. Get in even when you think you know how to swim really well because the L0rd will take you to new depths. “Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander” is a lyric that comes to mind. I was talking with Tammy, one of my squad leaders, about how we forget how boring the beach is until we get there. I mean, seriously, you swim, you lay on the sand, you walk or run on the sand…and…that’s kinda it. And I feel like we come to that same conclusion as believers sometimes. We get used to seeing the faithfulness of the Lord in our daily provisions. We lose our awe.
DON’T LOOSE THE AWE!!
Sit down and list out all the things you have (materials, experiences, personality traits, emotions). All the things you’ve been blessed with. I guarantee you will not be able to come up with an exhaustive list.(Just that fact alone should bring you to a point of awe. Every person in the world cannot come up with an exhaustive list of the Lord’s personal blessings.) But doing this will recenter your perspective on where all your blessing have come from as well as their sheer magnitude. And if you follow the faithfulness trail backwards, you will see the stunning beauty of the Lord’s faithfulness.
I’ll give an example.
I am thankful that the Lord has gifted me with a pair of green pants I have worn more times than I care to count. They were a gift in provision because they were on sale in a store with few physical locations and were the only pair left, in my size, in my favorite color (other than grey). I had the money to buy them. The Lord provided that through a nanny job I had. I was able to keep that job because I had a vehicle amongst many other things. My car was provided by my family. Etc.etc. Simply following the trail of provision allows us to see the Lords faithfulness in provision. I challenge you to not just do this with materials, but with experiences also. Do it with spiritual and emotional lessons he has taught you. Spend a week of quiet times mapping out the Lords faithfulness. Glorify and worship him in that!
Okay, wow, that was not expected. External processor…oops! But the Lord is good and made me that way for a reason. I hope you are able to take some tid-bits out of this blog and run with it.
Have a great week of worship!
-Mags
