Don’t Let The Waves Crush: Learning To Embrace Them

I’m a Washington-born girl–yay for the good ol’ PNW!

Most of my growing up years I lived just a few miles away from the ocean, if not mere blocks away. It’s in my blood and bones, if you will.

My brothers and I spent a good chunk of our time during the 9-14 ages walking down to the ferry terminal near our house, and tossing crab pots in over the side railing. We’d watch the weather-worn fishermen come in off a long haul and hose down their boats, we’d watch the seagulls dive-bomb the nearby fish cannery (smelled so good! not.) hoping for little morsels, we talked the captain of the Alaska Ferry into letting us have a tour while it was in port for the day, we visited the gift shop inside the terminal to warm our frozen hands — and we were in there so constantly that, thinking back, the poor ladies running the gift shop HAD to be so tired of us. haha.

I now live in Colorado, and have for half my life. Very not-by-the-ocean. Don’t get me wrong, Colorado is great and fantastic and it’s home now and I love it. But boy, do I miss the ocean! Colorado feels just about as far from the ocean on either side as one can get in the USA. Pretty sure it’s at least a 22 hour drive to either coast from where I live. This = too far. 😉

So, I’m going to write about the ocean.

Because it’s on my mind. And I’ve been drawing and painting boats and ships as if it’s all I know how to do. So it seems only fitting that I would WRITE about nautical-themed things, too.

This is what I’ve been pondering:

Ocean waves. I love to stand on the Oregon coast and watch the waves crash. They roll continuously toward the shore, crashing one over the other — unstoppable by any human force. And I think that’s part of what makes the ocean so grand and wild and raw and glorious and what thrills our hearts when we feel so small on the shore and look at the vastness … the strength. Those waves are incredible and powerful. And they’re beautiful…

…until you’re out IN those waves and you’re being pulled out further and further. You’re struggling and the waves are still crashing relentlessly and just when you think you’ve got your head above water … another wave dashes you back under. It’s terrifying and relentless and it feels hopeless and you’re drowning.

Unless you’ve learned to master those waves.

A surfer pursues those same waves that crushed the poor unsuspecting soul caught in their strength. He willingly goes after them with the specific intent to put himself right in their path.

He does so knowing that he’s prepared.

And because he’s prepared, those same waves bring exhilaration and excitement — the surfer conquers the waves meticulously with fine-tuned knowledge of exactly how they work and exactly what movements are needed on his part … it all works together in harmony.

So I ask myself: (work with me here on my analogies… 😉 )

• am I okay with only ever sitting on the shore of life watching the waves from a distance — especially when I know there’s the possibility of more?
• …if I am willing to pursue that “something more”, am I prepared? Am I ready?

What can look beautiful and even romantic from afar in other peoples lives can be overwhelming and frustrating and drowning when one actually faces it … unless one is prepared — unless there has been a readying.

Oswald Chambers wrote this in his devotional My Utmost For His Highest and it really struck me:

‘Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let’s apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against— tribulation, suffering, and persecution— are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. “We are more than conquerors through Him” “in all these things”; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).’

Oswald Chambers

Am I prepared? Do I avoid that which could produce abundant joy for the readied life?

“… not in spite of, but in the midst of …”

Related Links:
Challenge to Myself: How Joyful Can My Dependence Look?