So our church challenged us to "practice the Sabbath" which is a fancy way to say, "take a big chunk of time out of your life, and enjoy God, open up to Him, take time to listen, and slow down." So... we went for it, and obviously, the best place to do Sabbath is... the beach.
I have this hiding place that I always go to when I need to think, or just sit and do nothing, or pray, and especially when I need to listen. It is an abandoned lifeguard stand in Newport Beach. I can sit up there for hours, and just wait, and watch the waves crash, and just "be" away from the craziness of my life. So naturally, that's where I headed this morning.
I can't quite figure out why I feel so entirely at home at the beach, but I always have. Today, I reminisced times when I was no more than 5 years old, walking along the beach on vacation with my parents, informing them that I would live by the beach someday. And here, 16 years later, I return to a lifeguard stand watching the dolphins go by (seriously...I saw one), as my ipod plays what seems to be my anthem:
"there's somethin about the ocean, that makes me rise up and praise, somethin about the heavens, makes me stand in awe again, somethin about the sunrise, reminds me of Your faithfulness, somethin, about the ocean, and I'm lost in love again."
I sat on a rock, out on the Jetti until I literally lost track of time, completely content to just be...for the first time in a long time. I was completely free of that "itch" to be doing something else. As I walked back toward the lifeguard stand, I started thinking about how nice it was to intentionally spend time with God, and to have nothing else fighting for my attention. At first, I thought that He had been silent...present but silent, and as I asked Him why, I realized that He had not. But, He didn't tell me to do anything. I didn't leave that time feeling like "now I know, God wants me to pray more," or "God is asking me to get up earlier and be more faithful to my devotions," or "God wants me to trust Him more, so I better figure out how to do that." Though these are good things, that is not what He said today, and since I heard no command, I thought He hadn't spoken. I soon realized He had. He had affirmed His love for me, He disarmed my fears by reminding me of how great, soveriegn, and present He is. He called me friend, and allowed me to simply enjoy Him.
So, I guess I write this, one to process and appreciate the goodness of My God, and the goodness of this sabbath. And second, to remind whoever might read this to take a second to breathe in your life. It definately is something you have to carve out, and make room for, but it is worth it. God built it into creation. Slow down, dump out all of the things that flood your mind with anxiety, fear, and pressure, and then, just sit, and enjoy God. You don't have to wait for some all-encompassing answer, or some command with superpowers attached to help you fix everything, or enable you to "go back at it." You can just wait for Him...and really, He's the one waitng for you. Today I realized that most of my time spent with God is like a business meeting, when what we really need is a date.
I was again reminded why one of my favorite verses in the entire bible is when Jesus says, "Come and have breakfast..." (John 21:12)
"I'm learning to breathe, learning to crawl, finding that You and You alone can break my fall, I'm living again, awake and alive, I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies."
your turn...one of the most memorable times spent with God--- go.
