I woke this morning with the ocean calling me. We're 4 blocks away from it but you can hear the force of it when you walk out the front door. I walked alone for a while...enjoying the solitude and the beauty. It's Sunday morning, and I could hear worship music as I past several of the piers...people from all over, gathering together w/strangers to worship in the early morning....
Farther down the beach, the song "Great is Thy Faithfulness" began to play through my head as I was asking the Lord to show me what He had for me today. Asking Him to give me direction beyond today.
"...all I have needed, thy hand has provided..."
As I walked with that vast body of water to my right, the thought kept coming to me...."Do you not believe that the God who holds that tide back, keeps the waters within its' borders....who poured water farther than the eye can see, do you not believe that He can show you where to go, what to do, how to proceed??? Why do you question?" I kept thinking, how cliche? What an elementary Sunday School lesson...how simple-minded. And yet, it's not...it's Truth. It's sometimes the most simple things that stare us in the face that we miss...we miss it because we're so intent on finding something deeper, some revelation we can't come to on our own. We...or at least I...want an answer specific to me....a little writing in the sand with an arrow saying "THIS IS THE WAY, WALK IN IT".
At the same time I was walking in one direction, my sister was down the beach walking in another direction...I'm assuming doing pretty much the same thing....seeking direction from the same Source.
**the pictures are from my sister's camera...her view of the morning**
(There's another interesting thought: The same God sits listening to us both...at the same time. He hears my heart's cry and hers...and doesn't for a moment get them mixed up. It reminds me of my time in Africa a few weeks ago. I was struck deeply by how BIG God is, how WISE He is. The Christians in Gabon pray outloud. At the same time. They unashamedly speak their prayers aloud...calling out to a God who hears them all. At the same time. It's a powerful sound...to know that God hears me in English and at the same time is hearing the 20 people standing next to me each praying in their own languages.)
Why is it that knowing that He hears me still doesn't feel like enough? I struggle to rest in that...the human side of me wants more, I want answers, directions. Is it possible that until I'm content to rest in His all-knowing arms there will be no direction? That's a hard lesson. Especially when I stand by the calendar and see there are not many days for me to decide what to do next. It's not an impatient thing...it's reality. I have no choice but to make some decisions about the shop...and soon.
SO, my simple lesson for today is to trust that He who holds the borders of the ocean in place is able to hold my little world in place, too. The lesson is simple...it's the living it that's hard.
As I walked with that vast body of water to my right, the thought kept coming to me...."Do you not believe that the God who holds that tide back, keeps the waters within its' borders....who poured water farther than the eye can see, do you not believe that He can show you where to go, what to do, how to proceed??? Why do you question?" I kept thinking, how cliche? What an elementary Sunday School lesson...how simple-minded. And yet, it's not...it's Truth. It's sometimes the most simple things that stare us in the face that we miss...we miss it because we're so intent on finding something deeper, some revelation we can't come to on our own. We...or at least I...want an answer specific to me....a little writing in the sand with an arrow saying "THIS IS THE WAY, WALK IN IT".
At the same time I was walking in one direction, my sister was down the beach walking in another direction...I'm assuming doing pretty much the same thing....seeking direction from the same Source.
**the pictures are from my sister's camera...her view of the morning**
(There's another interesting thought: The same God sits listening to us both...at the same time. He hears my heart's cry and hers...and doesn't for a moment get them mixed up. It reminds me of my time in Africa a few weeks ago. I was struck deeply by how BIG God is, how WISE He is. The Christians in Gabon pray outloud. At the same time. They unashamedly speak their prayers aloud...calling out to a God who hears them all. At the same time. It's a powerful sound...to know that God hears me in English and at the same time is hearing the 20 people standing next to me each praying in their own languages.)
Why is it that knowing that He hears me still doesn't feel like enough? I struggle to rest in that...the human side of me wants more, I want answers, directions. Is it possible that until I'm content to rest in His all-knowing arms there will be no direction? That's a hard lesson. Especially when I stand by the calendar and see there are not many days for me to decide what to do next. It's not an impatient thing...it's reality. I have no choice but to make some decisions about the shop...and soon.
SO, my simple lesson for today is to trust that He who holds the borders of the ocean in place is able to hold my little world in place, too. The lesson is simple...it's the living it that's hard.
1 comment:
I love reading this post!! I love how you share your heart, and bare your soul. As I was driving with my daughter in Dallas one day, the guy on the GPS system in our rental car gave clear, precise, verbal instructions as we drove on the many unfamiliar roads. It was so helpful to us! I thought to myself that I wish at times that God would communicate with me like the guy on the GPS..."do this"," don't go there", "wait a few days to do that". But God doesn't often answer like that. He wants us to wait in the quietness, and the answers WILL come in His time and His perfect ways. I am praying with you today for specific direction. I will continue visiting this blog and receiving inspiration and joy. Thank you for sharing.
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