Album Post #3 - Tidal Wave
It was 6:45 PM on a Thursday night. It had been a long, exhausting week with….life, and the week wasn’t even over yet. I had just arrived at church barely in time to get everything ready for the worship team who was not far behind. I was tired. I didn’t want to see people; I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I’m sure when they came, they would ask how I was doing, and I’m sure I would lie and say, “I’m fine”. But really I wasn’t. Life had become an overwhelming race of one thing after another and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep running. As I waited for the rest of the team to come, I just paused and realized where I was. I was in His house. I had almost missed it because there weren’t any noise or distractions that I was so used to. It was quiet and peaceful because I was in the presence of a holy God. So I sat down, bent over and rested my head on the pew in front of me. I calmed my heart and tried to find rest and peace in the one whose ‘yoke is easy and His burden light’. I thought, “Lord, I’m afraid. I’m overwhelmed. Please let me know that I can make it through this day and the next ones to come. Help me to trust you along the way and to know that you will never leave me or forsake me. Help me to know that I will be okay.”
I’m sure this a feeling that most of us can identify with. The feeling of being overwhelmed, face down in front of our God pleading for him to help to keep your head above all that is crashing in around you. In the busyness of life, it seems like we can feel this way often. I know for me in that moment, I was glad to look around and see I was in the house of our God and in His presence. But I think we forget that no matter where we are, we can trust that He is there also. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul writes:
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”
Life can literally feel like constant tidal waves, one after another, as if the water are high enough to threaten our breath. It can feel as though it will never end or that there is no way out from underneath its crushing weight. But you see dear friends, our God literally lives within us, so therefore he walks with us through the ups and downs of life. He sees what we see and has already gone through all of it Himself. And if he knows that we are fighting against tidal waves; if He knows that water is crashing up against us, and if He knows we cannot keep our head above the waters ourselves, then He will be the one to hold back the seas. He will be the one to lift our heads up, and He will be the peace to assure us that through life’s biggest storms, we will be okay.
May we find rest in the God of the universe who not only holds the stars, but also holds our hearts and our tomorrows. The same God that created the vastness of the seas will protect our minds and bodies from the terrifying waves that threaten our security. Lord, there are tidal waves crashing over us constantly. But please let us know that in your arms we will be safe and through you we will be okay, even in the tidal waves.
