God, the Rescuer

This has been a great summer!

I hope all of you have had the opportunity to spend time with family and friends during this season. We had the chance to hang out with our family on the Oregon Coast. I stood and watched the waves come crashing to the shore. They continued to roll as the tide would come in and then recede.

The night we arrived we went down to watch the waves and stroll on the beach. Our grandchildren were with us and wanted to run to the water.

The youngest, Jordan, went fairly close and set himself up ready to just get his feet wet when one of the waves came in bigger and stronger than any of us were expecting.

Yes, you guessed it, he turned to run and it took him down.

Now mom and grandma were right there and he was in no danger, but the look of surprise on his face was priceless.

Many of us go through life the same way, we think we can play in the water without getting very wet. We are aware that God has set boundaries in life for us to follow, but we want to push the limits.

Sometimes we get mad at God for letting the waves of life take us down. We end up rolling in the water while spitting and sputtering until the waves go back out to sea. There will be times in life that we end up rolling in the waves as a result of our own decisions or as we are caught unaware.

This summer and during the past year many in our communities have been rolled by the waves of life. Often there is nothing we can do about the pain caused by the loss of a loved one, the shock of someone walking out of our life, or the ache of losing a job.

Unknown waves will come; Jesus said they would.

The important point to remember is that just as Jordan’s mom and grandma were there to rescue him from the water, God is there for you. There is no storm of life that God cannot save you from or lift you above. It might be a process and the road to recovery may linger.

Jordan had to remove his cold and wet cloths and put his dad’s sweatshirt on which was much too big for a three-year-old, but he was safe and warm.

If you find yourself in this recovery mode, know that God will encompass you with all that you need. Hopefully, like Jordan, you will be a little more cautious, a bit wiser and stay a lot closer to the rescuer.

May we all grow nearer to our heavenly Father and learn to trust him completely when the storms of life roll in.