To Sit and To Swim

With my head turned toward the sky, eyes closed, hands sinking in the sand behind me, I drank in the salty ocean air.  Deep gulps...like a thirsty child at a playground water fountain.  It felt so good.

I sat there for a moment, enveloped by the beauty of the scene, and gradually I could feel myself begin to let go of the world: the worry and fear that I seem to harbor being pushed out of my mind by an overwhelming awareness of my Creator.

Deep in the process of emptying myself, I opened my eyes just in time to see my three children running toward the ocean.  They bounded through the ankle-deep, shin-deep, then knee-deep waves, and dove right into the water.  I saw them float, swim, and race each other back to shore.  I watched them play in the sand: digging, building, writing, and burying themselves.  Then back to the water.

I realized that while I was emptying...they were filling.

There, in the presence of God's undeniable power and glory, I was giving up my weaknesses, handing over my struggles, and letting God's peace take control.  Emptying.
My children, on the other hand, were jumping in and swimming around.  Filling.
It made me think about how those two actions manifest themselves in my life as a Christian.

Being emptied of the world and being filled with the Spirit.

Both needed...both necessary.

I should live a life of sacrifice and not be conformed to this world.  I should turn my burdens over to God.  The emptying.
But also, I should be submerged in God's love and grace.  I should saturate myself in His Word.  The filling.

Quietly sitting in the sand and thinking about how much God has given me, reflecting on His magnificence is important, it helps me refocus and recharge; but, at some point, it's equally important to put aside inhibition, run full force into the water, and outright plunge into His greatness.  James wrote about this through inspiration telling his readers they should be "doers of the word and not hearers only" in James 1:22.

I don't want to be just a sand sitter...I want to be a wave rider!

And with that, I grabbed my boogie board and raced my kids to the water.