For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes. Jeremiah 31:25
Oftentimes, even while resting on a beautiful beach, we cannot find quiet and peace for our souls. Many of us rely on substances to soothe our heartaches, but they only create more problems for us in the end. May you find times of refreshing and joy in the presence of the Lord…He can set you right again. Aloha to you.
More Hawaii beyond Hanauma Bay…
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The beautiful, ever forward-moving waves on Oahu…
Sometimes when we try to move forward in our lives, we feel like this wave: battered and broken into a thousand different pieces. Perhaps it didn’t turn out the way we had planned, maybe it was so much harder than we thought. And we are left shattered. Sometimes disappointment makes us feel like this:
The sea, oh, the sea,
does it really want to keep crawling back
to the shore
its foamy fingertips clinging to the sand
only to be pulled away once more?Must it constantly throw itself
against its long loved lover
in a rage
when it knows the role in life
the shore must always play?(Niki Moran, 1984)
If you are there, as I have been lately (February is the worst winter month!), here’s a little encouragement for battle weary souls:
“Forgetting what is behind and straining for what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philipians 3:13-14, NIV
“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” Romans 4:20-21 (NIV)
And for the more secular among us, the late, great Fleetwood Mac:
“Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, don’t stop, it’ll soon be here. It’ll be here, better than before, yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone. Don’t you look back!”
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The North Shore of Oahu did something to me. The moment I stepped out of the car and glanced back at the mist covered mountains, the island atmosphere descended upon me like a cloak.
But it wasn’t just the foggy mist, the fuzzy yet craggy green mountains, the deep blue ocean, or the waves with their white crests rolling into splendid, light blue sea-foam. There was an ethereal beauty that settled silently on my shoulders and seeped into my very soul. It changed my mood, it shifted something deep inside me, it slowed my breathing and swept me into its magical, unearthly presence.
The last time I felt like that was at the Grand Canyon. We drove from Colorado to the North Rim and didn’t stop for a peek until we reached the lodge, located right on the canyon rim. We parked and I ran into the lodge to get my first glimpse through the big bay windows. The magnitude, the grandeur, the overwhelming awesomeness of that scene froze me in my tracks; I lost all sense of time and place for a few moments and stood transfixed, struggling to comprehend such majesty. Later that night we gazed at the unimaginable display of stars and I was overcome by the sheer breadth and width of the sky, so big you could almost see eternity behind it.
And that is what makes these places so special. It’s not just the beauty, it’s what lies behind it. It’s that undeniable sense that there is something bigger than us behind these jewels, so much bigger than us! It is soothing, peaceful, and calm, but it also resonates with strength and power as it displays a glory that leaves us in awe.
“From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what he has made.” Romans 1:20 HCSB
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