What the ocean taught me about God

I grew up in California and was blessed to be able to spend lots of time at the beach.  We went there on family vacations when I was growing up, we went there for 6th grade camp, and I lived in San Diego for 7 years before moving to Michigan.  In case you were wondering, I moved to Michigan for the job, not the weather.  :-)

Spending time at the ocean taught me lots of things about God and how God cares for me.  I am still amazed, every time I look at the ocean, and think about how many creatures and plants live there and how big it is. The oceans cover 72% of the Earth’s surface, and “over 1 million known species of plants and animals live there, and scientists say there may be as many as 9 million species we haven't discovered yet.”*  It is just mind boggling!

Here is what I always find fascinating.  We really don’t do anything to make it work.  For the most part, the ocean is self-sustaining.  Whenever I look at it, I can’t help but think that God created all of those creatures, both big and small, and all of those plants, everything that lives in that big blue ocean and He continues to take care of it.  The ocean is filled with both beauty and danger.  There are so many beautiful pictures of it, and beautiful things in it, but there are also dangerous things there.  Animals that are dangerous, depths that are dangerous, plants and rocks that are dangerous.  And yet, amidst all of that beauty and danger, God is there.  God is taking care of smallest creature, living in the deepest depths that we haven’t even discovered yet.  God made it that amazing thing that it is, He sustains it, and He is taking care of every part of it.

If God can create and take care of such an amazing thing like the ocean, how much more does God care for me!  The ocean has always been a reminder to me that God can take care of anything I may need.  If God takes care of the tiniest creature and makes sure they have the food and the environment they need to survive in the ocean, surely He cares for me.  As strange as it may sound, I have always found comfort in knowing that because God can care for such a big ocean with such a huge variety of wonderful things in it, there is no doubt that He can take care of whatever I may need.  It is also a reminder of what a big, awesome, and amazing God we serve.

Heidelberg Catechism Question 1: “What is my only comfort in life and death?  That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.  He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life9 and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”

God bless, Rev. Liz Arakelian, www.LivingHopeEC.org

*http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/planetocean/ocean.html