I am Humbled…

“…long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.” – 2Peter 3:5 (NIV)

Living by the ocean is a dream come true. The ocean is the one part of creation that seems somewhat untouchable by mankind. I know we have polluted the waters, killed much of the wildlife that inhabits those waters and used the ocean as our own personal playground and toilet at the same time. Still, there is something about that aspect of God’s creation that reminds me that He is in control and His will cannot be thwarted.

If you doubt it, take a nine foot by two foot piece of polyurethane foam covered in layers of fiberglass, cloth and epoxy resin into the ocean and paddle out past the first few sets of breaking waves. If you get that far, lay on the fiberglass covered foam and try to paddle in as a wave begins to form, standing up just as the wave crests.  If you succeed, it’s the closest you’ll come to walking on water. If you fail, like I often do, it’s still the closest thing to seeing creation in its raw unbridled state.

It still brims with fish and the waters come ashore every day without ceasing – sometimes angrily as though they were fighting back against the damage we inflict on the water and its inhabitants. It cannot be tamed by jetties or shorelines and it cannot be constrained by manmade means. We cannot even begin to explore its depths or even its surface in some areas of the world. It is one of the few things on this earth that is beyond exploration to it’s fullest because we are incapable of withstanding all that the ocean is.

There’s something reassuring about that – about our weakness – our insufficiency – our incapacity.

There is something comforting in knowing that while we have done our best to exert our power over His creation, God has created things we can barely touch the surface of even though we can immerse ourselves in it. It is a reminder that God is sovereign. It is a reminder of the words God gave Isaiah to speak in Isaiah 40:12 (NIV):

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

Or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on the scales

and the hills in a balance?

Lying on a foam board covered in fiberglass that weighs less than I do less than half a football field’s length from the beach is not something I take for granted. The reverence it commands and reflects back on our Creator is not something I think will fade either.

I am grateful man has not been able to subdue the ocean. I am humbled to be a witness to His creation – to God’s glory. I am overwhelmed by the fact that our God loves His last creation, mankind, despite what we’ve done to the world He created for us.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” – John 3:17 (NIV)

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