A Growing Beauty

There's something quietly strong about nature. Tonight the ocean once again became my muse. It is constantly changing and yet it is always the same.

Tonight started out as a dark evening with a plethora of stars strewn across the sky in complex patterns that God Himself designed and knows. But the "crowning moment" of the evening came when the moon boldly rose up from the darkness of the ocean as an ever-brightening orb of pure, orange beauty. As it rose it cast a path across the water almost to my feet. And if the simple, incredible beauty of the moon was not enough, two shooting stars coursed their flaming trails through my vision.

There two things the made the evening even better than the pure incredibleness (yes, I make up words)of nature. One was the fact the I was with friends. I am so blessed with friends. The ocean was unquestionably amazing tonight. But to share it with friends who enjoy it equally as much, is so much better.

The second thing is that those of us there tonight know the One Who created all of those things. That fact is incredible and adds so much to the experience of the evening. It was almost as if God said throughout the evening, "Oh, you think that was beautiful?! Wait til you see this!" And each thing was successively more amazing. To know that God is so big and powerful the He can create such amazing displays of beauty with no effort at all is to know that He is completely trust-worthy when it comes to my life.

We had to wait for awhile tonight before the moon came up. But when it did come up, it was completely worth the wait. Though I have only lived a relatively short time, I have a deep seated belief that God has a long-term plan for me. I don't know what it is. I can't see the full beauty of the whole picture yet. I don't feel like the "moon has risen" in my life yet. But I believe that as I walk with God, He will guide my walk and shape me into something beautiful so that at the end of my life, people will see an amazing picture of God's incredible grace that will point to Him and glorify Him in the same way that the moonrise did tonight. It's an amazing privilege to be on such an incredible journey with such a powerful, trust-worthy God.

The Peace of Power

I got to visit the ocean again this morning after an early-morning jog with a friend.  It was calm today.  I love the moods of the ocean.  Sometimes the waves come crashing in and go far up the beach.  Sometimes the waves crest smoothly and scoop up the shoreline.  Today, the waves were small and the ocean almost had a glassy look.  I could see far out over the ocean to the distance horizon with a bank of clouds.  When I first got there, the sun had not yet risen and there were gorgeous bands of blue, purple, and pink.  As the sun rose over the cloud bank the colors became more vivid and began to change into oranges and yellows.  Then the sun began to peek boldly over the top of the clouds…the dawn of a new day—a day with potential for great good if I surrender myself into the hands of my Heavenly Father.

This morning was so peaceful and quiet (minus the annoying four-wheeler that destroyed the peace for awhile.  Ha!)  It was re-assuring, though, to think that everything is in the hands of a God who brings the new day into existence with such peace and tranquility—no strain or stress.  If we humans were even capable of putting on such a lovely production, can you imagine the massive stress, preparation, scurry, rush, frustration, and practice that we would have to put into one sunrise?  The light has to be just right; someone has to coordinate the waves; someone has to make sure the half-moon is in just the right place; someone has to make sure the colors change as they are supposed to; the sun has to come up at just the right rate; someone has to scatter the hundreds of shells on the shore…and who knows what else....  And that is only for my little section of the beach.  Yet all night long, God kept the world spinning and the planets in order; He kept everything running perfectly and the sun came up this morning with no great rush, no stress, no perspiration, no headache, no effort.

God is awesome.  I'm glad that it is He that I trust with my life.  I'm glad that I can let Him control all the details instead of trying to keep track of everything myself.  In a world that seems like it turning upside-down sometimes, it's so comforting and reassuring to know that God has everything under control without any stress or strain.  It's a wonderful feeling of peace...kind of like a glassy ocean with gentle waves splashing on the shoreline and beam of brilliant sunlight shining across the surface….