Sand Piper Faith

 

If you haven’t picked up on it by now, I am a big lover of the ocean and anything related to moving water. When I go to the beach, only fellow beach enthusiasts are invited to accompany me because I want to absorb the beauty for HOURS. There is something so majestic about the rough and tumble ocean waters. I experience God when I am sitting by that kind of grandeur. Recently when I was relaxing at the beach, I was very intrigued by little birds called sand pipers. Their little legs quickly take them from the water’s edge to the safe shores as each wave ebbs and flows and threatens to overtake their tiny bodies. They were uniquely designed by the Maker for that kind of activity. God fashioned them to scurry towards and away from the encroaching wave, so that they can probe the sand with their long beaks to find their catch. God is so cool like that. However, when I was watching them I interpreted their behavior as fear of the water. They would only go so far towards the water, and then they would ‘turn tail and run’. I pondered over their response to the water and applied it to my own life. I know God designed them that way so maybe this isn’t a good analogy, but I asked myself, what am I running from? Do I only go so far, allowing God to use me so much and then out of fear or lack of control, quickly run back to safer and more familiar ground? Am I willing to embrace the rough waters of life, the challenges and the stretching or do I scurry back to safety? Perhaps you have pondered over some of these things as well. 

What are you running from? Do you practice sand piper behaviors, serving God a little and then running back when safety or control is threatened? Why is that behavior prevalent in your life? Are you an ‘all in’ Christian or an ‘only in when it feels right’ Christian?

Matthew 16:24-25 (NLT) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it."

Lord, thank you for the unique calling that you have for each one of us. Help us to boldly walk it out and help us to not run from it out of fear or intimidation. Equip us to fully comprehend how to lay down our lives, our motives and expectations and to live solely for you.

Jesus, you are everything to me and I sit with you in sacred stillness. I breathe in deeply of your strength, with a surrendered heart that is willing to run with you in the ebbs and flows of life and to live out the purposes that you have for me without fear. I love you Jesus and I want to serve you with everything that I have.