What is it about the beach that seems to move everyone's soul?
Who doesn't become reflective at the land's edge, lulled by the repetitive crash of waves and mesmerized by undulating tides?
Does God speak to our hearts at the seaside, in a voice we don't otherwise hear?
The meeting of sky and sea, the salty air, the cry of gulls, the intensified shimmer of sunlight, the rub of sand all bespeak a unique glory.
Contemplating the minuteness and yet the vast endlessness of sand is mind-boggling. All those tiny particles. Each and every one of them formed by God's hand, known and controlled by Him.
There are so many small wonders at the beach worth scrutinizing. Patterns in the foam. Tiny mussels. Shells. "Look at the birds of the air..."
But the main attraction is, of course,
the ocean.
Last week we stayed on the 9th floor, so we had a grand view. This is why it's called the "blue planet."
The ocean is a delight for children; yet a sobering danger for even the strongest. It is wonderfully beautiful, incomprehensibly vast, and deeply mysterious.
The ocean is brooding and moody. Some days it's silently calm; other days boisterously restless. We know it can be furious and destructive. Certainly this aspect of creation has much to say about its Creator. Perhaps that's why it's so frequently mentioned in hymns.
To illustrate a soul tossed with grief:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul. (Horatio G. Spafford, It Is Well with My Soul)
To praise the power of God:
Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
And who told the ocean you can only come this far?
And who showed the moon where to hide til evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star? (Nicole C. Mullins, My Redeemer Lives)
To rejoice in Jesus' love:
O, the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
(Samuel Trevor Francis, O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus)
And on this Lord's Day, I think especially of the peace the ocean confers--a taste of the peace of God, of resting in the powerful Creator, who holds the oceans back, and who whispers His glory in the waves.
O how great Thy lovingkindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea;
O how marvelous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved,
Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine. (Jean Pigott, Jesus I Am Resting, Resting)
