God's Crashing Wave

Crashing Wave
(my finished tutorial from Watercolor Secrets)

Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls;
All you breakers and waves have gone over me.
Psalm 42:7

The winds and waves of life seek to toss and hurl us headlong into confusion and discouragement.

So much brokenness, so much pain, so many needs call out for help or rescue:

• Families in crisis due to sexual addictions, wayward children, financial struggles, dissatisfaction with our church.
• Cancer attacking young fathers and beloved mothers or grandmothers that I know.
• A death of a younger brother after a long journey of a little known disease.
• The sudden onslaught of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) to a successful school district administrator.
• The anniversary of the suicide of a teenage son.
• Some of these belong to Jesus, others do not, as yet
  
• My own physical pain that limits my involvement in comforting those in the midst of crisis.
• The worry of my child returning to school with unkind peers.
• The special needs of my other child creates mountains out of mole hills during simple life transitions (returning to school from summer break).

And yet…..GOD

In Exodus 20 when God descended on the mountain….holy, set apart….with thunder and lightening, the nation of Israel was afraid.

I love Moses response in verse 20:

“Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you that you may not sin!”

Moses told them NOT to fear....

but then quickly said that the fear of God should be in their hearts.

What is the difference?

Initially the people were afraid of the quaking mountain due to the thunder and lightening God displayed. Their peaceful camp-out was rocked! They feared their surroundings, their circumstances, things beyond their control.

God used such a trial to call their attention to the real need:

THE FEAR OF GOD

Wait a minute! I thought my real need was peace for my soul in the midst of life’s difficult circumstances.

And I do need that but God wants to go in deeper first.

“Nothing under His control can ever be out of control.” ~ Charles Swindoll in Intimacy with the Almighty.

In his book A Severe Mercy, Sheldon Vanauken describes one way his wife dealt with the reality of her terminal illness through painting.

"The painting she completed - after which it went over the mantelpiece - showed in muted colors a nude female form lying prone, eyes shut, while a great wave - the wave of God - crested above her, ready to thunder down upon her."

And so I pray:

Father, as deep calls to deep at the sound of great waterfalls declaring your greatness and power to one another, I too, want to join in. May I see that the waves rolling over me are not the outward struggles of my circumstances but something much deeper. I believe in your absolute sovereignty over the adversity in my life. I submit to being overwhelmed by the mighty hand of God.