Something about the Ocean

There's a song I discovered in college that has a line that says "there's something about the ocean."  It goes on to describe how the ocean makes them think of and praise God.

Twice in the last few weeks, I've stood on different beaches with different friends and had the conversations about how much the ocean reminds us of God.  I find it so difficult to be near the ocean and not think of God.  Go for a walk on the beach with me and most likely we will wind up discussing how the power and majesty of the ocean reminds me of the power an majesty of God.

About nine years ago I took my first trip to Cape Town, South Africa.  I had been living in the country for a few months but that trip was my introduction to Cape Town.  I remember standing at one of the look out points on the famous Chapman's Peak drive, taking in the absolute beauty that surrounded me, and hearing God begin to speak.

Chapman's Peak Drive, Cape Town - March 2007

As I stood and beheld this view, God started dropping something about Himself into my heart.  I felt like He began to tell me that He is like the ocean.  See when we go to the beach we frolic and play and we feel like we know the ocean.  We get comfortable with our little bit of beach and the tiny fraction of the ocean that we are standing in.  And we begin to feel like we know the ocean to it's fullest.  The truth is though that if we had any inkling or grasp of how vast and powerful the ocean truly is, we would be terrified to even step foot in it.  If we honestly knew what those waters were capable of, we would be too afraid to engage it at all.

In that moment at Chapman's Peak, God began to show me that He is like the ocean.  We have our relationship with Him and think that we know Him.  We're comfortable with this tiny fraction of Him, forgetting that He is so vast and powerful.  So vast and powerful that our minds cannot even begin to comprehend the totality of who He really is.  We engage what we know of God and get comfortable there much like our area of beach/ocean.  All the while forgetting that there is so much power and depth beyond what we currently are experiencing.

This weekend I stood and watched the sunset at the Kommetjie lighthouse and chatted about life and God with a dear friend.

Sunset at Kommetji Lighthouse, Cape Town - July 2016

As we watched the sun dip below the horizon we talked about how God is like the ocean in front of us.  We talked about how if you devoted your entire life, day in and day out, to exploring the ocean, you would never be able to cover every single aspect of it.  You could dive and swim and snorkel and boat and whatever else and still not experience every crevice and valley and inch of the oceans.  God is the same.  We can devote our entire lives to discovering Him and until we step into eternity with Him we will not be able to know Him fully.

I don't know about you, but that fuels my desire to keep pressing on to discover more of Him.  For some people knowing they can never fully know everything about God may dissuade them from pursuing Him.  For me though it fuels the flame to spend time seeking Him.  I may think that I know God, but in reality I've only experienced the tiniest fraction of who He is.  And so I'll spend the rest of my life chasing down more glimpses of who He is.