Safe Shores

Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 42:7-8

At the beach one summer, when I was seven years old, my grandmother bought me a giant blue inner tube with a white string attached that I could hold on to. Immediately I pulled the inner tube into the water, and my mom and I ventured out on the tube, steadily drifting beyond the break of the waves. Laughing and soaking up the sun, I sat in the tube with hands and feet in the air, twirling, and enjoying the ripple of calm waves around us. 

Then, as if in slow motion, we saw what my daughter, today, would call a "humassive" wave heading straight for us. It crashed over our peaceful moment, ripping me from my mom and the blue inner tube like an explosion. It took me underwater, dragging me along the bottom of the ocean. I remember opening my eyes underwater, the only time in my life, and yelling a bubbly, “Help!”

After what seemed like an eternity, I washed onto the shore, coughing alongside my mom.

For the rest of the day, nothing—not even an opportunity to go to a water park—could lure me from my mother's side on dry land. Being held under the water's control that day gave me deeper gratitude for life, land, and the safety of my mother's arms. 

A similar fear can grip me even as an adult, when life’s circumstances leave me feeling hopeless and lacking any control. An unexpected rogue wave can knock me down. But it’s in the depths of the struggle, when I cry for help that God rescues me. He’s the only one who can lead me to safe shores. I am so grateful for the safety of his arms, for his steadfast love. It lets me take a calming breath and recognize the beauty on the horizon, all that God has waiting for me.

Reflect

1. What "wave" has taken you to a deep, dark place that you were unprepared for? 
2. How have you seen God rescue you and give you room to breathe?
3. Describe the beauty on the horizon that came after a difficult time. What has surfaced from asking God for help?