I am getting quite familiar with our Welsh coast here. Our family loves to walk or drive down and enjoy the beauty of the rocky beach. With layers and layers of rock below your feet, you can walk almost a half a mile out before reaching water. The "foreshore" (as it is known here) is truly immense. Today I went to the beach to pray and I saw such a sight! It was a different coast. I was at my familiar coast, but it looked like a different place. The tide was so high that the foreshore was completely covered. There was almost no shore at all. The sea had rose so high that it was now 10, 15, maybe 30 feet above the rocks that we normally walk on and explore. The raging waves were totally covering the very places we had walked only days before. This is a picture of my heart and life lately. The Rock, the truth that I walk in or stand on one day is covered quickly by the tide of emotions, circumstance and stress. If someone was to visit our coast today for the first time, they would never know that there were miles of rock beds to explore. If someone were to look at my life these last few weeks, they may not know that I walk securely on Jesus,my Savior. They wouldn't be able to see that I know I am loved by a kind Father and that I know the beginning and end to the story of life. These "rocks" of truth have been covered by raging waves of life lately. But, as I sat and looked at our Welsh coast today, I only had to remember last weeks walk. I could picture my son searching for fossils, shells and the perfect stick to take home from the shore. Even though all I looked upon today was deep water and waves, I can know for certain there is a fabulous shore underneath. I have walked that fabulous foreshore! So it is true for my life in the midst of changing emotions and moods... the tides. I know Who my Father is! It only takes a minute to rehearse truth and remember the walks, the talks, the times I have had with Him this week. I have walked there! I am certain that there is a very strong Rock under those waves. Covered today... yes, but it doesn't negate the fact that it is still, very much, there!And, I am also reminded that the tides will change. By definition tides come and go. The tide will change at my beach and the tides will change in my life. The waves of discouragement and frustration do not change the fact that there is a very-present Truth, a Rock that is unmoved below those waves. I can remember and stand on that Rock. I will once again (many times!) walk amongst and stand on those rock beds on our lovely Welsh coast. I will again (many times!) walk in and stand on the rocks of Truth. I will again have moments with a quiet sea.
