Treasures of the Deep

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back [pile up] by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and they were divided…the children…went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.” Exodus 14:21-22

Last year about this time, we were in the same predicament with an impending hurricane as we are this week. Thinking back I recall several things that completely blew my mind when we returned to see the effects. The first morning back, I walked to the pier as usual, but the complete landscape had been altered. The sand dunes were gone, and the beach had been flattened where dunes once stood. Sand had been pushed back and piled up all the way to the beginning of the pier creating a mound almost as tall as the pier. I couldn’t imagine the power of the wind that had blown and battered the shore creating that mound. The other thing that amazed me was the beach itself, now adorned with unseen treasures from the ocean floor.

As I think back on those times when the harsh winds blew into my life piling up suffering I understand that I was still in God’s hands. Just as He caused the sea to divide for safe travel through the seabed He made a way for me to walk through my seasons of suffering. He revealed beautiful treasures from that journey, things I could never have seen had the waters not parted. To me it seemed that just like the waters were walled in so was I. But God determined how long it would take for me to get to the other side and He provided dry land. I could have drowned in my misery, but He wouldn’t let me. He allowed the storm to hit, but I walked through it picking up the beautiful things of the deep I would never have possessed without the storm. When I emerged from my adversity the landscape of my life had indeed changed. Bad behavior and unlovely attitudes had been shifted to a new focus...focus on a better way to live...a better way to act...a better way to believe.

Whether you are fearful of the actual hurricane this week or fearful of another type of future, you can have complete confidence in God’s protection and blessings. Don’t shield your eyes during your journey because you just might miss the treasures of the deep that are yours and God’s alone... treasures for which you didn’t even know to search. Look for the beauty in your new landscape that God has formed and established just for you.

“Thus, says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it, the LORD is His name: Call to Me and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3