Post Sunday August 2 2009

“…and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.” Luke 6:48

Part of the message yesterday I talked about the fact that Jesus is providing us with a “forecast” of our lives. In simple terms building on the rock allows our lives to stand during the storms of life, while building our lives on the earth (sand) will cause a great collapse of our lives. It is a daunting thought that regardless of where we build, whether the rock or the sand that the storms will come. I’ll be honest, I still get nervous about storms coming my way. I know where my life is built and continues to be built, but it doesn’t mean I don’t cringe when I see that storm heading my way.

One of the mornings last week on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I got up earlier than usual to run, so I could end my run back at the beach to sit and watch the sunrise. I clearly misjudged my timing because I got to the beach a lot earlier than anticipated so it was actually a long wait for the sun to appear. So I sat on the wooden stairs that pierced the sand dunes and listened to John Denver’s melodious voice on my ipod.

There is something about sitting and waiting for things to happen that forces you to think through things. You wonder about whether or not you are living your life right. You think about the things that the people around you have been saying to you. You imagine what your children are going to be like as they move into the next stages of their lives. You feel your body either declining or strengthening and you wonder why you had to eat that extra piece of cake right before you went to bed last night. You fight the urge to think sinful thoughts. You fight the urge to think depressing thoughts. At times your head sinks into your chest as you remember in vivid detail your most recent failure, then your head picks back up as you remember your most recent success. (Why is it that the failure memories are more vivid than the success memories?) You think about decisions you made that took you down your current path and wonder what life would be like if you would have taken the other road or that road less traveled as Frost the poet once penned. A lot of heavy thoughts filter through your mind as you sit and gaze at things like the Ocean.

Then my ipod began playing Annie’s Song by John Denver and the line, “Come fill me again” filled my ears and I thought yeah, Lord, come fill me again and I began to shut down my numerous thoughts that were billowing through my head and heart and looked around me and I saw hundreds upon hundreds of Dragonflies dancing among the tall grass of the sand dunes. I have no idea what they were doing, but they really just looked like they were dancing. I watched as one Ocean wave after another pounded the shore, it would fall powerfully, rush up onto the beach and then peacefully flow back into the ocean. I watched as the osprey (better known as the Fish Hawks) hovered over the ocean and then in one sharp, quick, graceful motion dive into the ocean, pluck out a fish and fly off for breakfast. I watched the crabs scurry from side to side grabbing what they needed and disappear back into their holes in the sand. I thought, wow, nature seems to be in this perfect, natural, seamless rhythm, I wish I could be in that rhythm Lord, can’t you fill me with that. (In other words a life void of storms and unpredictability)

I saw a few along the beach doing the same thing I was doing, sitting gazing off into the horizon deep in thought, waiting for the sun to appear. I wondered if they were just as concerned about life as I was. I saw a few walking their dogs and I wondered if they really wanted to do that or if they felt enslaved by their pet, a few couples walked by and I wondered if they were loving this time together or if they felt compelled to do this since they were at the beach, and a few beach joggers passed by and I wondered if they too had eaten a similar piece of cake before going to bed and that was motivating their each step. I knew that for all of us here, this moment at the beach was nothing like the rhythm of nature around us, this was probably for most of us a rare moment of peace, a moment that got us out of our natural day to day life and we were all at the depth of our hearts so badly desiring this place, this way of life, to be our natural rhythm of life, to sit here on this beach every day. I let out that deep sigh and then looked out into the horizon again and there before my eyes the sun began to peek out. It dawned on me that whether I felt that my life was in rhythm or not that the sun is going to rise. Whether or not I’m dancing like the dragonflies or not, the sun is going to rise, whether or not I’m hitting the ground powerfully like the ocean waves or being peacefully brought back out to the sea that the sun is going to rise. Whether I’m gracefully diving into life to earn my way or plummeting aimlessly into life like the osprey the sun is still going to rise, whether I’m scurrying back and forth finding what I need and then heading back into my home for cover like the crab the sun is still going to rise each morning.

I guess the real question is not trying to work out a perfect rhythm for my life, but rather taking my confidence in that faithful God that never sleeps and never rests. While He has me rising each day like the sun, why would I not want to be taking up my place deeply embedded into that rock? Regardless of what my unpredictable life throws my way? Either way whether I have a predictable day or an unpredictable day, because of my place in Christ, my life will not be shaken. Storms do not have a rhythm to them, they come and go, they strike softly and in the next moment violently, but regardless of what they do, I can, if living on the rock not be shaken. I spend too much time trying to figure out how to avoid storms, by finding a better rhythm for life when the fact is I need to spend all my time simply living a life in a place that cannot be shaken. That place is in Christ. He will even outlast the sun that rises and sets each day.

As I rose from that place of solitude I headed immediately back to the beach house, thanked God for what I just saw and opened up the pages of His Word and simply said, God, come fill me again for that is all I need to navigate this day, You be my rhythm.

Remember this today and for each day you breathe….if you are building your life on the rock, you cannot be shaken regardless of what comes your way today.

“For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.” Isaiah 50:7

“…and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.” Luke 6:48

Questions to Ask Yourself

1. When is the last time you just sat alone with God and allowed Him to speak to you?
2. Why do you think God commanded us to observe the Sabbath day (a day of rest and joy) each week? Why do you think in our culture have we said the Sabbath day no longer applies to us? What do you think would happen to your life if you began having a weekly day of rest and joy?

Pastor e