Refreshment

What refreshes you? What soothes your soul and makes you feel at peace? What makes you feel alive?

Nothing does this more for me than the Pacific Ocean. Nothing rejuvenates me as much as having that icy water lick at my feet. As soon as I hit that sand, everything melts away. There is something humbling and wild about the ocean that puts everything happening with me into perspective. There is no place that I feel closer to God than sitting and watching his handmade creation.

I could live on the beach, just spending all of my time watching waves roll in and out, pushing and pulling their way to and from the shore. It overwhelms me watching the ocean rise up, unified, pushing towards its goal. I look at the sand and wonder how long that rock stood its ground before the waves relentlessly beat them to pieces and eventually crumbled them into a fine powder.. As I sit and feel the wind that is the driving force behind those waves, I wonder what most people's driving force is. Are they pushed along? Are they relentless because they want to be, or are they pushed by a force that they aren't even aware of, like the wind pushing the waves.

I think I go between the rock being beat to pieces and the waves doing the beating. I take so much comfort in the knowledge that no matter what, I am being pushed by my Lord. That whether I can feel the wind at my back or not, it is there driving me. I really don't want to be broken into a million pieces. Sometimes it is necessary to become sand so you can go on to be something different, better, and useful.

I try and remind myself that the sand may be broken rocks, but the ocean failed to destroy what it is at its very essence when I am having a hard day. God is using that sand to form beautiful beaches. I want Him to use my brokenness to make something beautiful as well.