Seated on a log that had been buried in the sand, my gaze belonged to the most delightful array of color and clouds surrounding me. There was this smoggy substance all around giving an orangish tint to the world. After a while of listening to the waves crash, I put my earbuds in and listened to a song before a thought ran across my mind, “get in.” Knowing I didn’t have a change of clothes with me and I was just passing by on my way to dinner with some friends, I decided that I was actually not going to get in.
“Get in,” the thought crossed again. As confused as I was, I opened my bible and began to read Ephesians hoping that getting into my Bible would satisfy. I was watching people walk be me, toward the water, and heard it again, “Get in.” I’d heard this before. The last time this happened, God told me to“Get Back in the Tub” and I knew that if this was anything like that instance, it’d be sweet. I acknowledged that I had to go, I ripped off my shirt and zipped up my backpack and busted a sprint to the ocean. On the way I passed the gals I was with and shouted, “The Lord told me to get in! Watch our stuff!” Then I dove into a wave and popped back up with the biggest smile on my face as I stared off into the horizon.
I love the ocean and have found so much joy in sunset swims during our time in Costa Rica and unfortunately, life has been so packed recently that I haven’t been for a swim at sunset in a hot minute. This moment was truly a gift from the Father.
However, I did begin to wonder what the Lord had for me when He called me into the waves. I asked and He said “look at me and I will keep you.”
“Where should I look,” I thought to myself, “you’re everywhere.”
My gaze was drawn to the setting sun and He repeated Himself, “look at me and I will keep you.”
At that same moment, a gnarly wave started to crash over me, so I dove underneath to avoid being knocked over.
“Look at me and I will keep you.”
I look back at the sunset just in time to notice another set of waves forming, so I hopped over the first one before it broke and found the sun again.
Quickly, I realized that the waves had become my commander. The Lord had clearly asked me to focus my eyes on one particular area in the sky, but I was far more concerned with what was going on in the water. One final wave crashed over me and I took a little tumble before I decided that I had to return to the sunset. I stared into the distance and caught the water rolling toward me with my peripheral vision, but refused to move my gaze from the beautiful transition of the day to the night. The wave rolled right past me and my feet never left the sand; again and again I watched the horizon and He kept me.
As a man who has wholly submitted his life to whatever Christ may ask of me, I found my stubbornness in this situation was a bit disheartening. The truth is that “my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth” and I have nothing to fear because of “Him who is able to keep me from stumbling.” Sadly, the reality is that I know this to be true, but in the moment my focus is often misplaced.
This extends beyond an experience in the ocean and is completely relevant to the current situation that I find myself in spiritually.
I spend far too much of my time hyper focused on breaking free from the grip of darkness on my life instead of focusing on the liberation that comes from deep intimacy with the Father.
When the heart of my attention is on the enemy and his work, I’ll be knocked down every time, but when I’m only attentive to the face of my savior, I’ll only know victory and peace. Our perspective has to shift.
Don’t hear me preaching prosperity. I’m only claiming what’s been offered to us in scripture.
Our nature is sinful and our flesh only seeks to gratify itself, therefore our days will see defeat and we will get our teeth kicked in. But praise Jesus, we will only ever be slaves to righteousness again. He fights for us. Look at Him and He will keep you.
Take a moment to sit with the Lord. Be still in His presence. Allow Him to hold you and fight for you. Play this song that I’ve linked below and position yourselves to hear from Him.
Running in Circles — Will Reagan and United Pursuit
I love you,
AWM
