God and the ocean....

I love how God made the ocean. It's big and beautiful. It's peaceful at times but you certainly don't want to get things stirred up because the ocean can eat you alive. The ocean seems to express a ton of human emotions and ideas. There is beauty, joy, anger, peace, along with brute strength and power. You can grasp a bit of eternity just by watching the waves continually roll in to shore.

At the outer banks this past week I was able to look at this vast body of water with a little different perspective. I was fishing from the shoreline most of the week and went through a learning experience. The first day I caught nothing, absolutely nothing. I heard one of the fellows on the beach say that high tide was the best time to fish and so I made sure that I fished during high tide the next day and lo and behold I caught 4 spot fish. I was convinced that I had learned the key to catching fish and so I went fishing again during high tide on the following day. I caught absolutely nothing. The under current shifted and kept bringing my line back to shore. On the day that I did catch fish I was interrupted by a passer by on the beach. He said, "Wow, you're catching fish!" He proceeded to tell me that nobody else that he spoke to along the beach had caught anything that day. I really didn't have the key to catching fish that day but I do know this much. I spent more time trying than most. I started fishing around 6:30 AM and fish until noon. Most folks were giving it a try for a couple of hours and then packed it in for the day.

The oceans current can fool you when you are fishing. It can move your line all over the place and you have to keep your finger on the line to feel the bites of the smaller fish. The fish I caught weren't very big but we had a fish fry anyway. My son-in law cleaned them and my son cooked them in cornflakes and olive oil. They were very tasty. Fresh fish out of the ocean really don't have a fishy smell. These spot fish tasted like the moist white meat of a chicken.

Every morning before casting I would have a chat with the Lord. I didn't experience any great spiritual awakening or revelation. I just wanted to thank the Lord for making the ocean so that I could play in it. The lesson that I learned about fishing is a repeat of the same lesson that I've had to learn from the past. God's basis for promotion is faithfulness. I have learned this many times over. I knew that if I spent enough time fishing and learned from those around me that my odds were good.

So here's what I came away with. God made the ocean and all the life within it and I was able to catch four small fish out of His vast underwater creation. It seems to me that if God made something as awesome as the ocean then we should never take ourselves too seriously. Anyone in their right mind understands that we are no match for the overwhelming power of the worlds oceans. I like that. I like the fact that God has made a lot of stuff that I can't handle. The ocean is awesome because God made it. No man could have done that. God made the ocean because He can. He is an awesome God!

The Psalmist David kind of summarizes this in Psalm:148

Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.
He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and maidens, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted;his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the LORD.