Going Back to the Sea

Recently, I uploaded this picture a few days ago as my cover photo on Facebook and I am immediately transported back to this day:
The sun was shining, the wind was slight, and I was taking a tour of the coast around my town with Eric, his host family, Hope, her host family, and some other Rotarians from Vigo. We were at San Andres de Teixeido and we trecked down one of the steepest hills I have encountered. At the bottom waiting was a path that led to this rock I am standing on in the picture. I have run past the ocean, I would go up hills to watch the boats come in at the end of the day or see the sunset drop itself behind the cliffs, I went to the beach to simply enjoy the smell of sea brine and listen to the calming waves hit the sand.

But the sea taught me many things whether that was to allow myself to see God's glory in full force or beginning to understand just how big God is and how small I am. Distinctly, i remember running one day and pausing to see the water crash and swirl around the boulders in the water. I thought how beautiful and unforgiving the ocean is: it doesn't care if you are simply swimming or on a boat, it can capsize you if not respected properly. Then I thought about Peter and how he was terrified of the storm around him while walking out to Jesus. I never sat at the ocean during the storm, but even just observing it on a relatively calm day, I began to sympathize with him a bit more. No, I am not saying that I would doubt Jesus but I can begin to understand where Peter is coming from.

I remember looking out at the ocean and it stretched for miles with no end, I wasn't even looking at 1% of the ocean and I felt like a grain of sand! How small I am in this world! Yet God chooses to know my name, my heart, my sorrows and care for me as if I was the only person in the world. If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking and how much more ocean is available! Even if all people on Earth were in the sea, there is so much more room left! God has so much grace for us, all of us, and it won't run out, it stretches for miles and miles as far as our eyes can see! And all we have to do is step out of the boat.