Sandcastles

Every time I go to the beach I'm reminded of my smallness.  The great ocean spans out in front of me, endless, wide, loud.  I was reminded yet again last week of the finiteness of my life as I watched a carefully constructed sandcastle crumble.  It looked pretty stable and unmovable but nothing matches the waves power.  Some waves take away bits and pieces of the bottom, other more forceful waves, take big chunks out of the side....both together claim the towering castle in the end.  The sand no match for the waves.

Life can feel like that sandcastle at times, unable to stand beneath the crashing waves.  Many times it's just the endless and consistent things of life - those small waves - teaching my son and daughter table manners every.time.we.eat - doing one more load of laundry, changing one more diaper,  speaking over and over again to the same issues of selfishness in my little ones lives that slowly begin to chip away at my firm stable walls.

And then there are those waves that take your feet out from underneath you.  The one where you loose your footing and in an instant you are upside down.  Death, sickness, financial pressure, job loss, and on and on.  Those waves beat and batter you, leave you disoriented, confused and gasping for air.  They are the faith testing waves.

It is in those crashing moments - big or small-  the only hope we have is to cling tight to the Master and Commander of those waves.  To hear him say, "peace be still"  changes everything.  To believe him, to trust him and to hold fast to him.  That's our only hope - that's my only hope.

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.

Psalm 562:5