The Powerful Sea

"The seas have lifted up, O Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea-- the Lord on high is mighty." Psalm 93:3-5

I am absolutely an ocean lover. I find almost nothing more inspirational than the sea. I also have tremendous respect for the power and awesomeness of the pounding waves, the currents and tides and the thundering surf. I hope you have personally experienced 'big surf' at some time in your life; if not in person, at least on film. In my estimation there is nothing else like it on earth. Mighty is a good word for that sound, louder than thunder, deeper than a sonic boom, when gargantuan waves crest, rollover and crash onto the ocean floor.

My experiences are not many, but they are memorable. When I was in my mid-teens on one particular summer weekend, the surf got really big at The Wedge (a wave anomaly in south Newport created by a trench, a jetty and perfect alignment with a southwesterly swell). Me and my friends just had to go see and maybe get in. When we pulled into the parking lot before we could even see the water, we heard the pounding. Literally felt it in my bones. Actually scared me, because, I am not a strong swimmer. But with a group of guys, my bravado was high and my ego was tempted as we approached the water. I distinctly remember that we all started running, like lemmings; my heart was pounding louder than the waves as we got to the water's edge. A few steps later, I dove in, surfaced and then made one of the wisest decisions of my life, I trudged out with two of my buddies, leaving only the two true surfers and strong swimmers in the water.

The three of us who had bailed, sat quietly, realizing that we were glad to be safe, but also knowing that we had 'chickened out'. I broke the silence by saying, "I have way too much respect for the power of the ocean to risk my life proving it." My friends agreed and we became audience and cheerleaders for our more qualified friends who also got out after a brief, disastrous and painful attempt to negotiate the churning waters. We all sat in awe together of a handful of very skilled and brave swimmers who were somewhat tossed around mercilessly by the relentless huge waves. Soon there was nobody in the water and just a lot of 'Wows' and 'Awesome' could be heard from the crowd on the shore.

God is so much mightier than that. He created that. We actually had that conversation on the way home that day, way back when. Too cool, my young Christian friends all talking about how amazing God's power was, proved by what we saw at The Wedge. Recently, I heard reports of 'big surf" at The Wedge and I just had to go. Wow, awesome! The pounding was just as loud as I remember, the thundering surf and majestic cresting waves, just the same.

I noted with some delight a group of young men who ran into the waters together, only for half of them to turn around quickly and seek the safety of the shore. I couldn't help but think how God keeps illustrating his power across the decades. I only hope those boys had the same conversation on the way home as I did. God keeps speaking, we should listen and respond and learn about Him from nature and all the experiences of life. He is indeed mighty. God Almighty. Pastor Fred

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