Who Plowed?

I took the pup to the beach yesterday. It was the perfect day for it! There were only a few people there, and she had the run of the beach. Which meant that she would run about 40 feet ahead, then race back to me like she was going to tackle me, and then at the last moment she would skid around behind me like she was peeling her tires!

Just look how happy she was!

She got to run in the snow, and in the sand, and in the water, and back and forth all over the place. There was space galore!

It was very low tide, which made for an expansive beach. You can see the snow line far over to the right. How nice of the town to plow the beach for us, right?

Nope.

God did that with the salty waves. And that made for an interesting up-close picture or two!

• 

• 

You can see exactly how far high tide was able to reach by the snowy cliff it left standing along the high water mark. The waves made it this far, dropped their seashell treasures, and soon after retreated as the tide went out again. Their salty spray made an overhanging snow shelf for the shells to nestle under.

For your interesting fact of the day: salt water decreases the freezing temperature of water to around 15^o F (-9.44^o C). It was most definitely above that temperature all day yesterday, even after the sun went down.

And that, my friends, is how the snow got cleared off the beach!

Limited

The stark line between sandy beach and snowy dunes is yet another visual reminder to me of the power of God shown in creation.

“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’”

Job 38:8-11 NLT

Sure, there’s gravity holding the water down. Sure, there are landforms keeping the water in its place. But who created gravity itself? Who put the islands and continents in their places?

Yes, wild storms cause the waves to break out of their normal borders now and again, causing damage to homes and property. But we don’t find the ocean barreling through the cornfields of Iowa or Nebraska. In the grand scheme of things, even a tsunami has a border. I am not making light of lives lost, but emphasizing the limits of the ocean’s power.

Limitless

God, on the other hand, has no limits. There is no end to his power . . .

“Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: “Praise the LORD! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns” (Revelation 19:6).

“Almighty” means all mighty! Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines this name as “he who holds sway over all things.” HELPS word studies says it this way: “unrestricted power exercising absolute dominion.”

The angel Gabriel told Mary, “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37 ESV). I think “nothing” just about covers everything, don’t you?

. . . his love and mercy. . .

“The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease” (Lamentations 3:22 NLT).

. . .his knowledge and understanding . . .

“Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding” (Isaiah 40:28 NLT).

. . . or his faithfulness.

“But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15 NLT).

Our God is beyond our human understanding. We can’t box him in, we can’t defeat him, and we can’t control him. As Abraham said, we are “but dust and ashes!” (Genesis 18:27)

What we can do, however, is submit to the Reigning King and his rule over our lives. We can live each day trusting in his faithful loving care, looking forward to the moment we stand before his throne and see him in the radiance of his glory.

Oh, what a day that will be! Are you ready, my friend?

What limitless aspect of God means the most to you personally? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!