Trusting God & Crashing Waves

This summer while in Malaysia, I went to the beach a lot. On one particular day, the waves were way high. They were painful. I went out to battle these violent waves and I went out farther than I should have. One wave hit me and took me down. I tried to get up, but another came and took me down again. The water swirled me around like I was nothing. I couldn't get up. The waves just kept pounding, and I kept fighting. I finally was able to get up and climb out of those nasty waves. Needless to say, I didn't go back out that day. I went to sit on the beach to read.

Here's what I wrote in my journal on that day:

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6-16-09

So I'm sitting on the beach in Malaysia and randomly turned to James because it's my favorite book and just started reading chapter one. One verse says:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." James 1:5-6

By "widsom", James is talking about the ability to make wise decisions in difficult situations. The wisdom that we need is practical, divine (God's wisdom goes beyond common sense), and Christ-like. To believe and not doubt means not only believing in the existence of God, but also believing in his loving care. It means relying on God and believing that he hears and will answer when we pray. We must have confidence that God will align our desires with his purposes. A mind that wavers is not completely convinved that God's way is best. To stabilize wavering, commit yourself whole-heartedly to God.

Now I'm watching the waves crash, and pray that I trust in God and not act as a crashing wave.