Ocean

“Where is another God like you,
who pardons the guilt of the remnant,
overlooking the sins of his special people?
You will not stay angry with your people forever,
because you delight in showing unfailing love.
Once again you will have compassion on us.
You will trample our sins under your feet
and throw them into the depths of the ocean!
You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love
as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago.”
- Micah 7:18-20 NLT

One of my favorite places in the world is the beach. Every chance I get (which is rare these days) I’ll go to Pensacola Beach or Jacksonville Beach or even to the rocky beach near the St. Marks light house just to get away. Something about the water helps me refocus my heart and my mind.

There’s something about the ocean that seemingly stirs my heart. Something about the ocean that brings me closer to God. Something about the ocean that allows me to pray and praise unashamedly.

The reason I go is due to a thirst that I cannot seem to fill. I thirst for God and feel the need to get closer to where I know I can find Him (though He is right here all along), but somehow, consciously, I don’t seem to understand that I have this thirst... this need. But subconsciously, I thirst. And I thirst for a stream, for a river, for an ocean, for the everlasting water.

When I do finally go... finally get there... and make my way to the ocean shore, my heart wells up and it starts. It starts with praise and exaltation. I look upon His creation and somehow see Him and His handiwork. I somehow start to realize how vast His love is for me... How deep His love is for me.

And a sense of calm sets in over me, as I begin to talk, to share, to share emotion, (yes even anger, frustration, pain). Yet, still praise Him and thank Him for His love and even for that pain.

Then, as I praise and exalt and share, I suddenly become aware of my sin... the sin in my life... all that needs to be forgiven. I become aware of my need for mercy and grace... remembering that He has and will forgive and throw my sin to the depths of the ocean floor, to be seen and heard from no more.

His forgiveness is overwhelming. The thought of the beatings, the blood, the cross more than words can express. And I praise and exalt Him... and thank Him again and again and again.

And like a firehose to the face, my thirst begins to quench... the stream or river I came searching for replaced by a vast ocean, the width and depth I cannot fathom.

And I sit and dwell and wonder, as I stare upon the ocean.

Keep the Faith... Carpe Diem