Many times the Lord instructs me as I read the word or through gifted teachers, even by just a sense of His voice throughout every day life. I so appreciate those times when I am a student of the Holy Spirit. I am used to God being a Teacher - it's quite often how I have related to Him in my walk throughout the years. I have to say though, during these times at the beach, He seemed to put down His teacher's chalk, and sit in His own big beach chair right next to me. This may seem kind of strange, but it was like He was on vacation too. Just chilling with me on the beach. He wasn't really talking in an instructional way at all, but He certainly was very present.
During each of these early morning visits, I was regularly impacted by two awesome images, both of which were significant illustrations of God's love.
The first is fairly obvious: I was impressed by the vastness of the mighty Atlantic. I would strain to see the edge of the endless sea and find myself getting slightly dizzy as I tried to see what was unseeable. So much water. The surf was kicking up quite a bit while I was there, which revealed only a fraction of the power resident in that huge ocean. So deep, so wide, so measureless. Yes, as you can imagine, it was easy to find insight into the greatness of the love of God while sitting by the sea. I was especially struck by the constancy of the rolling waves, always pushing towards me - always reaching out to touch the edge of my world. If I did not move my position, eventually those waves would wrap themselves around my feet as the tide would eventually and most certainly come in. It always comes in. Even more than that, if I got up from my seat and intentionally moved towards the water - meeting the wave at it's point of impact, I would surely be overcome by the force of liquid power. His love: so constant, so powerful, so persistently pursuing the object of His affection. Let the tide roll in - here I come, ready or not! SPLASH!
The other image that I often saw while sitting by the shore, was that of a dad with his little girl. It wasn't the same dad, with the same little girl - but various father/daughter interactions that for some reason, all seemed especially highlighted to me during my week on the beach. I was impressed by the willingness of one dad to get up so early in the morning just to collect seashells with his very wide awake daughters - seashells mind you, that would no doubt find their way into a forgotten mason jar in the basement of their home. This dad was not worried about the practicals of seashell collection - no, he was out there for one reason: to be with his little princesses and revel in their glee-filled squeals and delightful discoveries. I watched as one dad passed up surfing with the big guys so he could build a sand castle with the apple of his eye. The sandcastle was surely doomed for destruction with the next tide, but not before a joyful memory was made. And not just a memory - but I believe an investment was made into that little girl's heart - the assurance that she's absolutely cherished and always will be.
As I said - although I thought perhaps the Lord might use my vacation at the beach to instruct me in the principles of kingdom living, it seemed He was more intent on just hanging out and resting. I didn't take any notes. I didn't even bring a notebook. Instruction didn't seem to be on His agenda...
Hold on! Wait just one minute. In spite of all the rest and relaxing by the sea, somehow, I feel like I've come away from that time with greater understanding of my Father's love for me. Just how did He do that? I thought we weren't doing the instructional teaching thing. Huh. Maybe God was showing me that He wants to be more than my Teacher. Maybe He wants me to know that a Father's way of teaching, is sometimes less about instruction and more about spending time with His little girl doing the things that delight her heart. Ha ha ha...
Oh, we have such a good Dad, you and I.
