Reveal

Sometimes when you're driving down the road in silence as the sun is setting
you get a little revelation.

Sometimes before the revelation comes, comes the reality that your life is pretty hectic and confusing.

Out of control, really.

Once again the plans you rely on- the things you want- are turning to vapor in your fists. 

Things just aren't going your way.
Nothing is, in fact.

     You know better than this.  You know how great your God is; you've seen Him move before.

So now that you've tried out your way and remembered that it doesn't work,
it's time to bring in the big gun.

Add a bit of God to the mixture.  Start making some time to ask for God's help.
You think that adding more of Him into your life is going to help clear the water.
Help get that supernatural control into your hands. 

But you're wrong.

You forgot to calculate the real issue, and you're shocked to find out that
God is not the secret ingredient.
You feel pretty surprised at this and maybe let down, maybe a little annoyed that God didn't patch things up for you like you expected.
Your faith is a little disappointed . . . but then this was never faith in God after all, was it.
Wasn't it faith that you could control what God has for you?
Suddenly this whole idea seems a bit messed up.

But then you drive a little farther and finally your perspective wakes up
when Truth gives you a healthy slap to the face.
Time to stop spinning your life around, time to stop throwing it all together and hoping something perfect is going to come out.
Time to stop putting God in the mix to make sure things turn out right.

Time to let God do the mixing.

Raw Fathoms

So last night we went to the beach, and I had a good time taking pictures.
I couldn't help but put these up unedited, because raw ocean has a gaze of its own. 

Because from a distance, the sea just is.  

But then you go there, and there is nothing else but the whisper of water
and the myriad of tiny peaks jutting up and then dipping back under, glances from disappearing scales.

Rocks spit up foam and sands drain down into the roiling mouth of the next gapping build. 

The ocean swells and recedes, and you, too, sigh along with every breath. 

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!  Psalm 84:1
There's only one way to God, but you can find Him everywhere.

Psalm 42:8

By day the Lord directs His love,
    at night His song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.