I am a beach person. My soul is revived by just looking out over the sea. The noise of the waves, the smell of the salt water, the feel of the sand, it all grounds me and gives me a sense of peace and rest. Living inland I make sure that we have a beach holiday every year, and I’m not sure who benefits more, me or the kids who just play for hours. Looking at the sea also reminds me of who I am in the greater scheme of things. No matter what I do or what I am going through, the waves still crash onto the shore, the tides move the waters around, the sea gulls hunt for fish and ocean life continues in its universal cycles. No matter how overwhelmed I’m feeling, I am reminded of just how small I am and how big God is.
You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand
‘Oceans’ by Hillsong is a really well know worship song, we sang it in church just last week. As I was singing it I became aware of a few truths that have been echoed in my recent journey. God is a God of mystery. There is no way that we can know everything about Him and how He works. Often we can’t make sense of what is happening in our lives, but we feel like in some way there is more going on than what appears on the surface. Just like the sea, we can’t see the tides but the effects that they have are momentous. In order to truly experience God, however, we need to get out onto the water and see where the tides take us. We can’t experience the adventure from the shore.
And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
Sometimes we are thrown into the deep, much like I was. I didn’t necessarily ask for the adventure, and I sure didn’t enjoy the storms, they were terrifying. Sometimes I barely got to take a breath before being thrown back into the tempest. Other times I was able to recover before the next squall hit. But no matter how high the waves and how strong the winds, my head kept above the waters (even if sometimes I was choking on the water). It was in those moments of deepest desperation that I called on God and without fail He heard my cries. I knew that He was there, and that I wouldn’t go under.
Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You’ve never failed and You won’t start now
What is amazing though, is that the more we need Him and the greater our reliance on Him, the more we appreciate His presence. The deeper the waters and the higher the waves, the more we need His grace, and the greater our experience of that grace is. Our faith is built when we realize that He will never fail us, He will never leave us to drown. What He does ask of us though is that we keep our eyes on Him. There is a story of Peter, one of the disciples. They are out on the sea in the middle of a huge storm, and they are all terrified. Next thing, they see Jesus walking on the water towards them. Peter, in his exuberance, wants to walk on the water too. So he does, and he is amazed that he is keeping above the waves. But as soon as He takes his eyes off of Jesus, he starts sinking. My experience of being thrown overboard in the storm is that when I focus too much on where I am, when all I see are the waves, that is when I start feel like I’m going under. As soon as I remember that I am not alone, that God is the one who will keep me afloat, my head pops back above the waves.
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior
The adventure may be a response to God calling you, or you may have been thrown overboard without a choice, either way it will be an adventure. And the deeper the waters that you venture into, the greater will be the story that you have to tell. It will be much scarier, terrifying at times and there will be times when you’re not sure if you will make it through. But when you do, you will have an unshakeable realization that God is who He says He is. He is faithful, He is with us and He will never desert us.
https://music.apple.com/za/album/oceans-where-feet-may-fail/591075444?i=591075501
Watch the music video of ‘Oceans’ by Hillsong United
https://music.apple.com/za/playlist/my-song-in-the-night/pl.u-gxblMR7txxMyzv
My Song in the Night 