I enjoy the many ways that God speaks to me in the quiet of a walk, especially here on the shore where I am surrounded by water. With Spring weather finally upon us, I am thoroughly enjoying being back into this daily pattern. This morning's walk brought a refreshing lesson. We experienced some storms last night here on the shore, and this morning's skies showed me my walk needed to be fairly quick, as it looked like another one was in the waiting. While the temps have been mild, the wind has picked up quite a bit since yesterday. As I was walking across the bridge towards our town's wharf on this brisk walk, I noticed the currents of the water. I'd never really noticed that many different currents at one time before, so I stopped to watch for a few minutes. There were several swirling currents as I looked out towards the bay. Some were going one direction; others in another. It looked a little chaotic to me at first. It's one of those images that makes us say "A storm's a brewin'!" This image stayed on my mind as God continued to speak, and I finished my walk. I came home to research just some basic information on currents. It is so amazing how alive, active and present God is in our every day life as I read!
Here's just some very basics that I discovered:
Currents may flow on the surface of the ocean, where they are shallow, or they may flow far below the surface, where they are deeper. Ocean currents are set in motion by the wind. The rotation of the earth moves them clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. In places where deeper currents flow below surface currents, the deeper ones flow in the opposite direction of the surface ones. Surface currents follow the pattern of wind above the ocean. The difference in water temperatures is another cause of water circulation far beneath the surface. .If the cold water from the poles did not displace the warm equatorial water, the heat within Earth would raise the temperature of the ocean floor. Sooner or later, it would be hotter than the surface temperature. The upwelling of water from the bottom would release devastating quantities of carbon dioxide, destroying both marine and coastal life.
While you may not be impressed with these basics, I was in awe of the lesson God had shown me. You see, as I watched these currents, I thought about how we often fight them, despite the force we know is there is so much greater than we are. I thought about howmuch we'd just rather fight the currents of life than surrender to the One Who is moving them. God is a Perfect Creator in that He knows just the right temperatures, the right winds, the right direction that everything must go in order to sustain life--not just life in the ocean, but MY life and YOUR life. When the storms of life come and things are swirling all around us, we tend to focus and get caught up in them rather than keep our focus on God. We'd rather frantically fight them or question them, than go with His flow and surrender to His Spirit. We have no idea what He is doing below the surface in the deep, but it's probably the opposite of all we are trying to do on the surface. He is the Captain of our ships of life. Did you know that large ocean liners and tankers actually "ride" ocean currents to speed travel time? How easier it would be for us, too, to follow that pattern and trust His Sovereign hand; to surrender to His perfect flow?
Peter had the same experience as Jesus told him to come to Him and trust Him completely...
“'Yes, come,' Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. 'Save me, Lord!' he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. 'You have so little faith,' Jesus said. 'Why did you doubt me?' When they climbed back into theboat, the wind stopped. Then the disciples worshiped him. 'You really are the Son of God!' they exclaimed." (Matt. 14:28-33)
So, will we be terrified by the wind and the eaves or will we keep our eyes focused on Him, Who is above, below, in, around, and over the currents? What does the current of your life look like right now, and where will you turn your eyes? Will you keep fighting or trust Him completely?
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."
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