Coming down the stairs I dig my bare feet into the sand. I feel the coolness of the sand from the night breezes between my toes. I pause to feel the gulf winds blow briskly against my skin. I've been here before. Multiple times before. The breee isn't cold. Not hot. Just right. I look out over the water and watch the the rhythmic swells grow into waves cresting before crashing against the beach and turning into a white foam. Then they bow before withdrawing back into the deep.
I feel very small here in God's presence. I feel insignificant. An inferior in the Presence of the Superior. Scriptures crest and crash across the shores of my mind in rapid succession reminding me of the greatness of God. I am humbled thinking He created all that I see by a spoken word. I find it hard to fully grasp His power. He staggers me on the sand.
I find a place to sit. To pray. To reflect. To meditate. To commune with my God, Yahweh, Adonai, Jehovah and Jesus. The only sounds are the waves, the wind and the squawking of sea gulls looking for a meal. Soon I am lost in prayer. Worshipful praise pours from my heart. Then I meditate on a scripture.
Psalm 139:17-18 (NKJV)
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
My mind contemplates the sandy beaches in Panama City, FL. As far as I can see in either direction I see endless sandy shores. Then it dawns on me. These are just the beaches in Panama City. These beaches go on for hundreds of miles all down the state of FL. Then I think eastward. The Gulf of Mexico borders Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. I think of all the shores from Padre Island all the way back to where I sit. I look down and take a handful of cool sand. On closer examination I see individuals grains. Thousands of granules just in my hand. Slowly I let the sand sift through my fingers and again I am staggered. God's thoughts toward me are more numerous than the sands. Not just the sands in my hand. I think of all the sand on all the beaches on all the oceans around the world. I cannot take in such a thought. Again I'm staggered. I cannot take in the sum of all the precious thoughts God thinks toward me and all of His other children.
It dawns on me that the passage does not limit those thoughts to just the sand on beaches. He just says sand. My mind drifts toward all the sandy deserts. Again I am staggered by His love and vastness. I"m awed by His continual thoughts toward me. More than I can count. Infinitely more. I repent for trying to shrink Him down to fit me. He cannot be shrunk.
Isaiah 66:1 (NKJV)
1 Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?
I see God in a way I've never seen Him. I see He is bigger than my mind can conceive. Such thoughts are too great for me. The beach I sit on is nothing more than a child's sandbox to Him. Yet He chooses to love me, to relate to me, to communicate with me and to accept me as well as all His followers. He chose to redeem me. He still chooses to use me for His purpose to share His word. I am staggered on the sandy shores of the Gulf of Mexico this morning.
John 3:30 (NKJV)
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
I do not not know how much time has passed. I got lost in my encounter with God. Slowly I become aware of the wind, waves, and sea gulls again. I notice some out walking. A few early risers have made their way out to the beach this morning sitting to enjoy a morning devotion.
I am staggered still. In a few hours I will preach. How can I ever communicate what God has just done in me and revealed to me?
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