Ocean Front View

Well, here I sit, toes in the sand being awe inspired by what God has created. 72 hours ago, I was folding laundry in house that may or may not be mine in a few weeks... recessions are so FUN. After 5 months of the most uncertain times in my life, I sit here crying to God. I cry because my life is so uncertain with each passing day, and, lately, I see no end in sight. I cry because I know He is with me every second of every day, but like a child needing the physical embrace of a parent when life gets hard, I still have times I feel alone and need Him right there. Now we all know that can not happen. Will not happen. That is not how God shows His presence to us anymore. He is with us in the valleys and on the tops of the highest mountains, but this 5 month valley has proven to be a true test of my faith.
Nothing in our lives, aside from God, is certain. Waking up each day is never a guarantee. Your next meal, paycheck, or embrace from a loved one... could all be gone in an instant. As I sit here with the sand slipping out from under my feet with each passing wave, I know God has a message just for me. Even though that wave crashes down all day every day and rips that patch of ground out from under me, the next second there is another behind it waiting to give me the stability I need to keep standing. When life comes in and washes the sand from beneath my feet, I have to know with all of my heart, that God WILL provide steady ground behind it. It is not always as quickly as I would have it... but it is always there.
The ocean is a great metaphor for life because it is never the same at any given moment. Things are always growing, moving, changing... but yet we always know when we touch our toes to that 1st grain of sand... there the ocean has been sitting, waiting, always a constant. During a storm the surface can be a raging beast ready to tear us down, but underneath it all there is a calm. This calm is always there. It never changes. You just have to dig deep enough to find it.
It is just like God's love for us. He may put a tsunami in front of us to see if we can swim, and if our faith holds strong and keeps us afloat... there is always a calm after the storm. Just as one wave knocks you down, there is another rolling right behind it to pick you back up.
I am looking at a sunset that only our God could have made. It is like He painted it just for me tonight. The moon hangs in a crystal clear blue sky over the ocean like heaven is just past what my eye can see. I turn and look behind me to see colors of coral, yellow, purple, blue and red, and I feel God giving me that embrace I have so desperately longed for. Life is more than a mortgage payment or past due bills. It is about right now. Look what wonder He has given me tonight... the sting on my cheeks from the warmth of His sun, and the cool sand between my toes show me just how blessed one can be without a thing. God is truly great!