Life Like The Ocean

 Life can feel like the ocean. Like a person swimming at the beach. Enjoying the sun, the water, and relaxing days on the beach. There are other times life feels like a person in the ocean who cannot get their feet under them as wave after wave tosses and tumbles them repeatedly. Just about the time that person's feet finds the sandy bottom, another wave crashes over making them loose their footing all over again. 

Sometimes life is smooth sailing, straight paths, and trouble-free journeying. There are other times that life is tumultuous, turbulent, topsy turvy, and traumatic. When wave after wave of sorrows roll in one on top of another. When trials come like tsunamis. In such times, it appears all hope is gone. In such stormy seasons, it may appear the sun will never shine again. The truth is the sun is still shining behind those dark thunder clouds overhead. 

The tide of trials rolls in incessantly in the form of sickness, grief, financial difficulties, family problems, depression, divorce, and death. The pounding surf does not stop. All day and every day the swells form and push inland. When a person loses their footing, it can be hard to stand firm. Fath can fail. Hope can be crushed. The rip tide currents underneath can slowly pull a person out further from solid ground. 

Over the years, I have watched seasons when certain people seemed like they had to endure more than their share of sufferings. They are bombarded with bad circumstances and bad news one on top of another. They get mentally worn down, spiritually weary, and emotionally exhausted. There are no simple answers. Trite phrases like "just trust God," or "God works all things for good," do not help when you are treading water furiously barely able to keep afloat. Like a person stranded in the deep with no place of safety, it is easy to lose hope and to lose heart. 

I went through such a season some years ago. People became concerned. One brother even made a long trip to talk me out of losing hope. We sat down for several hours. I listened as this one I used to mentor and disciple tried to talk me out of my mental state. He sat with his nicely crafted theology amidst the backdrop of several successes. He did not know any of the suffering I endured at the time. He quoted Bible verses, quipped certain truths he read in books, and offered his sage advice. It felt a lot like Job being counseled by his friends. Job's friends did not understand and were wrong. My friend tried but he spoke of things that he really did not know. 

I sat there frustrated and thinking, "This guy does not understand. He has never experienced what I am going through. The surf swells had not sent him tumbling in the oceans followed by other waves crashing on top pushing further down and overwhelming over and over again." I listened a lot. Said very little. Gladly said goodbye when he left with mission unaccomplished. 

I learned during those years that nobody could understand what I went through. The very God I loved, served, sought, and pleaded for help, seemed to be the same God allowing the onslaught of waves of adversity and suffering that slammed against me. I kept my innermost thoughts to myself. I faked it through many days with a floundering faith before a watchful flock. I am not saying I succeeded. Most people probably knew there was something wrong. I did not share it openly. 

I have experienced life like the ocean. Fun filled relaxation one day. Tossed and turned by the ocean the next. Through all of it, God is the same God. He is never caught off guard. He is still trustworthy in tumultuous times. He still listens and helps. He still offers hope to the hopeless and help to the helpless. He still pulls people from the surf of suffering to minister love and strength. He still swims out like a lifeguard to rescue us from dangerous rip tides of toxicity. He ever stands watch to shelter us from approaching storms. He is the lighthouse to show us the way to safety back on the shore when we have lost our way. 

These are all things I have experienced firsthand. These are all things that helped shape the pastor I am today. Only those who have suffered can truly relate to others who are suffering. In closing, I point to truth. 

Matthew 7:24-27 (NASB)

²⁴  "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
²⁵  "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
²⁶  "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
²⁷  "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall."

Notice that both faced the storms of life. The rain fell on both. The floods came to both. The winds blew and slammed against both. Life can be hard. It has challenges. Storms come. Stand on the rock of God and His word. Build your life on that. Hear His word and act in faith on what He says when life is like an ocean. He will not fail you. Hang onto Him like a life preserver. He will see you through. Persevere weary brothers and sisters. Life is like an ocean. The season you are enduring will not last forever.