I have been spending the last few days at the beach with my family. My son is a little under two years old, and is not very amused by the ocean. He actually hates it. His dislike is understandable from his view. He is a little guy. The waves have been particularly fierce here, and it can be an intimidating scene. His time on the beach has consisted of sitting on the sand with his shovels.
His entertainment level has been no different than if we went to a park and had him play in a sandbox. I understand his fear, but part of me wishes that he would grow use to the ocean, because play in that water can be such an enhancement to his experience here. It may be scary, but the potential rewards are so much fun! The irony that while he plays on the sand he continues to remain intimidated as he watches others in the water. Seeing others in those scary waves is rather scary.
We tend to be this way with life though. There are so many points where all we want to do is just stay in the sandbox because it is comfortable and familiar. We can’t get hurt in the sandbox. You don’t get knocked down by the water in the sandbox. You aren’t experience the danger.
You also are not experiencing the excitement and wonder of that ocean. We so often live in fear of the dangers in life. We keep ourselves form following adventure. We want to stay in the sandbox because we know it is safe, but so many times God wants to call us into something more. God wants to give us a sense of purpose. We will never find our purpose form God in that sandbox. We need to be in the world in order to know what we are supposed to do for it.
The sandbox has to get boring after a while doesn’t it? I get those waves may look intimidating, but maybe we need to stop looking at the risk, and begin to consider the reward. Sometimes the risk of having nothing of worth in the sandbox is worse than the risk of some pain in the ocean in order to receive a real reward.
When was the last time you took a jump into the ocean?
Utterly Dependent 