Movement

We have just returned from a week long vacation with our family at our favorite beach in North Carolina. Thanks to great friends and a gracious God, it was a GREAT time, always is when our family is together. One afternoon, we came in from the beach earlier than usual because there were intermittent storms. During a break between the storms I walked down to the dock that overlooked the canal to sit, read, and watch the ever changing sky. I watched the water continuously moving in one direction, become still, shift directions, and back again. I wondered what type of unusual things might be swimming around in the canal, but I was not interested enough to go in and see. But just when the water would get still, there would be a splash where a fish jumped, small baitfish would surface, or the ripples of something bigger rolling around just under the surface would become visible.

I watched for a while the movement of the water and felt the Lord whisper to my soul, where there is movement there is life. It should go without saying, right? But sometimes we can sense the movement and just not see the movement, but in both there is life and purpose. Sometimes we feel stillness not fully understanding the pace or direction of the movement. It is so subtle it feels non-existent, but small indicators remind us, there is indeed movement and there is indeed life.

Later in the week I came across an area where there was a little runoff, a place where the water was just sitting. It was stagnant, stinky, and had swarms of mosquitoes and other insects hovered over it. I thought, there is no movement there and the insects were feeding off the bacteria and algae growing in and around it. There was no life, only an offensive odor and the buzzing of the feeding insects.

I know in my life, I have experienced both seasons, fluid and visible movement as well as moments of stagnancy. Times where I knew exactly where I was going, where my family and kids were going, and then times where I sat in the stagnancy of pain, loss, grief, disappointment, heartache and the like. The Lord gently reminded me, upon noticing the stinky water, that staying in those stagnant places will invite the parasite that is the enemy to come and feed on the pieces of brokenness, giving room for further fear, doubt and anything else that might pull me away from the truth that I know deep within my heart. However, picking up my broken pieces and working my way back towards the fluid movement of life, the life God has intended for me, takes a little more effort, a little more faith, a little more strength, and a little more intentionality. The destination may be uncertain but the movement is necessary to experience the promise of abundant life in Christ and it is worth the effort.

Sometimes that movement back towards the truth, back to the place of security in Christ, is slow and steady, like the gentle movement of that canal I was sitting beside. But sometimes, the movement is a battle like fighting the crashing waves that were just across the street with dangerous rip currents pulling its held life here and there under the surface. I watched the red flag wave on the shore and read the warnings about the rip currents and thought, whew, I can relate to that too. The beauty and reassurance of the truth, feeling your faith rise with every step, then suddenly feeling the tug of the enemy pulling just under the surface, gripping with everything he has, as you try to move beyond the depths of your pain. The wrestling for righteousness is not a far gone principle when we accept Christ. For it is in that tugging and wrestling in which we are refined and made into his likeness, that battling leads way to pain and heartache but it also pushes us forward in faith knowing that God can be trusted. He is indeed a good good Father! He holds all things together and is moving them exactly where they need to be even if we can not see or do not understand the movement, rest assured it is there.

Friend, I encourage you, whatever you are walking through, He is moving…moving towards you or giving you space when you demand it, but NEVER leaving you. The wrestling can be weary but before you know it, you will discover where it has landed you; directly in the presence and peace of God. You may find yourself there a little more tattered but still standing and stronger in Him. If He can calm the waves and silence the sea, He can for sure carry me (and you). Believing for calmer waters for us all – XOXO

So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:21