As the waters crashed with loud exclamations I paused to think how the sea compels one to abandon all tightly guarded packets of worry and anxiety. "Give them to me and I will plunge them to the depths." It's akin to what the Lord says to all who will hear, "Come unto Me and I will give you rest." He never said "You shalt be religious" or a characterture of some goofy cathedral painting where people with sallow cheeks and wizined bodies say, hey, you can be just like me. Please.
Jesus was a man's man -- and with class knew how to treat the ladies. He could saw timber with the best of them and with the same strong but tender voice converse with a woman drawing water without making her feel like it was a come on -- but truly interested in who she was on the inside. Really. Isn't that something? Those are certainly traits that are not only noble and admirable -- but God-like. The way He wants us to treat each other. With respect, joy and unconditional love. I don't know about you, but boy it seems we always gum up the works with control, ego, pride, selfishness and the like to our own peril.
I'll make the disclaimer right here. I'm not saying that's everyone else and not me, too. It's as real at home base as the outfield. It's those things that gum up that bring everything to a standstill feeling like we can't reach out to a God who would say, "Give it to me. I'll wash it away and make everything new." It's a fallacy to think that anybody is immune to the carnality of man. We're all good and it's just choices is really a totally deception. Jesus' Blood can't annihilate all that and make a brand new person.
Oh boy. She's gettin' preachy now. Maybe to those that don't understand -- they can't conceive that something that sounds so vicious as killing someone can bring absolution. To those who have heard and received, though, it's that redemptive salvation--personal, individual and unique--that makes me look at life a whole different way than before. Does that make me a fanatic or one of those "Jesus people"? Definitely. Does it make me a laughing stock of those who don't believe. Most probably. Do I care? No. I know what I know that I know. When you get to that place with God and you have experienced His power, you never go back. Never.
So when the packets of stress and anxiety that stick like super glue from daily challenges and schedules try to bury me in the quickmire of stagnation and depression, I go stand at the sea of God -- the one true God above all gods -- and say, "Take this junk. May it go into the depths and cause it to crash on your shoulders. I am free because of what You did. I am forever thankful."
Amazing. I stand amazed at the sea ... where His love crashes in loud waves on the shore of my heart. I try to cry out with thankfulness and I am awash with His tenderness.
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