Breakfast on the Beach Day 4, St. Augustine, FL
Tides rose so high through the night, debris literally litters the beach…thousands of shells & fragments, seaweed in abundance, even occasional pieces of soggy driftwood strewn about. It’s as if the ocean heaved to dump sea refuse on the shore then receded to distance itself from the ensuing mess. If an alien landed on this beach at this moment, he might conclude that nothing good or useful comes out of the sea—only pollution that once served a purpose, now rendered useless.
How many times in my 40+ years of existence have I felt life relentlessly churn me, then spit me out much like the ocean & these broken shells? What once shone beautiful & meaningful, now lies reduced to rubbish with little or no value, mere remnants only the most vivid imagination could picture as lovely. Failed relationships, workplace tensions, ill-placed loyalties, wrong priorities, poor choices, missed opportunities…all waves in the ocean of life with tragic remains sprawled out onshore, scattered in pieces as painful reminders of my fallen state. My mind renders no reason to believe God could redeem anything from this mess. Yet the Bible says he gives “beauty for ashes” {Isaiah 61:3}…He exchanges rubble & ruin for temples of glory. His glory. In His time. Just as we cannot change tides’ timing, God’s purposes in our lives cannot be hurried.
Eventually tides swell once again, pulling debris out to sea, sweeping beachfronts clear. A forceful act of our Divine Creator wiping away all evidence of beach clutter, leaving nothing but pristine sand. How powerful the picture, how precious the reality of what Christ accomplished at Calvary. In one unselfish act of obedience to his Father, our Savior Jesus washed away life’s clutter, most notably the ugliness of sin and rebellion separating us from our loving God. Just as waves ebb & flow in constant replenishment & removal of seaweed, our redemption manifests in on-going exchange…our sins for his blood.
Averting my eyes from fragmented beach garbage, I follow waves in far off distance merging with endless horizon. This body of water harbors much more than sand and shells beneath my feet. True also of God’s purpose for our lives where beauty and deep riches remain hidden, unrealized while standing on this shore.
“…it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we will be like Him…” I John 3:2
Livin4Jesus 