Have you ever had one of those experiences where you just rode the waves of God’s grace, from a place of complete abandon, in over your head, to a place of solid security. Walking off into the sunset, hand in hand with our blessed creator.
If so, please tell me about it.
So far, that hasn’t been my story. I have certainly ridden the waves of God’s grace. It’s exhilarating. It is such a rush, and such a faith booster as you see the shore get closer and closer as you simply give in to abandon and faith in the waves of God’s grace. And then, just as you can feel the sand in your fingers, and you begin to get your footing, the tide turns and the undertow seems to take away any ground your faith has taken. Suddenly, before you know it, you are back in over your head, wondering, questioning, did that wave really just happen? Did I misjudge? Was that God? All it takes is one look at your hands, and it’s undeniable, you still have the sand under your fingernails. It was real, you were just there, that experience was real. You did just witness the amazing power of God carry you from complete chaos to perfect peace.
But now, what do I have to show for it. Now, I’m back in over my head, begging for another wave, desperate for His grace to survive. This has been my story. It is challenging sometimes. I was bemoaning my unmet expectations to God one day. And He so kindly pointed out that if I desire to ride the waves of His grace, I must be in over my head. There will be the final dance, where we rise up from the waters and walk off into the sunset. But that isn’t today. That is for the one day…
For today, I must let go, I must not fight the current. As life takes me in over my head, I will not despair, but
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
If you are here with me, friend, read this Psalm, let it wash over you fresh. You will once again
Go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, with the voice of joy and thanksgiving…
For today, let go, stop fighting, and let God be
The help of your countenance and your God.
Psalm 42
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.
I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.
Glad to see you’re still treading water!
Now stick your face in the water and blow bubbles… Imagine you’re the trolling motor on a boat. You know, the quiet one that is used when fishing.
When you’re done fishing… the big motor will roar to life and whisk you to the shore.