Where The Waves Stop by Karen Ruhl

February 4th was Craig’s birthday; we took a fun trip to the beach. We love going during the winter when the beaches are completely empty except for the seagulls bathing in the sun. I love my time alone on the beach, looking in every direction, I do not see a soul. Craig sits up at the dunes, but I cannot see him from where I am alone to talk out loud to God.

As I walk and talk, I thank Him for creating the ocean and I am always in awe of the power of the waves, and yet, they know just where to stop. God gave them a boundary when he formed the earth. “When He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth.” (Proverbs 8:29 NKJV) I pick up shells and feel like a little girl putting them in my pocket to fill up a jar as a reminder of being at the ocean”s edge. Then, while standing at the edge of the sea, I realize that God gave it a command to stop and not disobey his command. Oh, how many times I have disobeyed God’s commands. At that moment, I looked up and asked God for forgiveness, mercy, and grace for all my sins. I repent. I look at the ocean waves through different eyes. The sound of the waves is so loud as the water gets pushed toward the shore. Just a few feet from shore, the waves are 3-4 foot high and coming directly toward me. And just as they get within striking distance, they crash and are gone. I thought, look, the waves wanted to do damage, they wanted to come ashore and come much further in than they did, but they took God’s instructions seriously and stopped. Just like that, there was a beautiful quietly frothy wave in front of me. I think about the word of God, the instructions He has given us in the Bible and realize I can be just like the waves. If I start to do something I don’t feel is in agreement with His will, I am going to let the thought crash and become a quiet frothy wave!

I continued to read Proverb 8 and see where my thinking is doing God’s will: “Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors.” (Proverbs 8:32-34 NKJV)

I share this because I am a sinner and every day, I need to read God’s word to stay in His will. Every day, I try to be righteous in His eyes. Open your Bible and read how much He loves us.

Blessings to your day. - Karen