Because I Love Him...

I love the ocean! I love every thing about it. I love the feel of the sand beneath my feet, and the warmth of the sun on my face, off-set by a gentle, pleasant breeze. I love the soothing sound of the waves crashing on the beach. I love to watch the birds as they flit about. I love to breathe deeply the fresh sea air. But most of all I love the way the ocean makes me feel. I always feel a strong sense of being "home" when I am by the ocean. I feel at peace.


 And today as I had my devotions on a beautiful beach in Southern California, where I am visiting my wonderful parents, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of peace in my soul. I was reading on the power and holiness of God in a devotional by Jerry Bridges and he referenced the verse in Isaiah where it says  "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?" The answer of course being God. Wow....That becomes so much more powerful when you are staring at the Pacific Ocean. As I walked along the shore praying to and meditating on God and all His power and majesty, He filled me with such peace. 


The last few weeks I have been wrestling with some very difficult doctrinal issues. Striving so hard to understand how and why God did and does things the way He does. In my arrogance I assumed if He would just explain it to me I would understand perfectly. And even worse thinking perhaps I would have done it differently. But as I sat on that beach this morning and meditated on His greatness I felt like He was telling me that I can trust Him. And that it is not for me to know all the inner-workings of His plans for the universe. All I have to do is believe and trust that He is good. And by doing so I immediately felt peace and love swell in my heart! I still do not know the answer to my how's and why's....but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is good and His ways are perfect and just. 


Now this was quite the revelation in my soul, but God was not quite done. As I walked down the pier taking in the magnificent views and simply enjoying the ocean, I thought to myself I could be happy and content to live here the rest of my life. But no sooner had that thought entered my mind, was it quickly rebutted. For only a few minutes earlier I had been watching a young mother and her small child playing happily on the beach. The mother had been chasing the little girl when the child tripped and fell face first into the sand. She picked the girl up, dusted her off, and placed a reassuring kiss on her cheek and off they went again.


 Now this probably doesn't seem like a scene that would warrant tears. But as I watched this short interchange I felt a deep ache in my heart and I began to cry. All I could think of were the thousands of little girls in boys in Africa who have no one to pick them up when they fall. No one to hold them when they are scared. No one to care for them when they are sick. No one to tell them they love them. And my heart simply broke! And because God has put this call on my heart to go to Africa to serve the poor and forsaken I know I could never be content here. Never fully satisfied. 


So as much as I love the ocean and sun shining on my face...I love God more! I love the way His Word comforts and guides me. I love that He fills the emptiness of my soul!  I love that His plans for my life are so much bigger than I could have ever dreamed.I love that His mercy and grace is totally undeserved and unearned! I love Him because He first loved me! 


And because I love Him, I will serve Him. Because I love Him I will follow wherever He leads! Because I love Him I will make "my life a living sacrifice" to Him!