Sand on the Shore

I am part of the LPM siesta scripture memorization team this year. If you don't know about it, you should head over there and read about it! Beth Moore put together a great way to memorize scripture and her video is phenomenal-it has really helped me to not just memorize-but to need it and wield it! Scripture is the greatest weapon we have against the enemy.

Back in the first half of March I chose James 1:5&6
"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 the wave of the sea, blown and tossed in the wind"

For some reason I had a particularity tough time memorizing the second half of this section. Truth be told, I think it was Satan working against me. I managed to learn it, and now it is one of my favorite verses I have chosen so far this year.

I think we are all doubters to some degree, some of us more than others. I have walked the beach many times, but I have never thought about this verse as I walked until recently. Watching the tides change, shifting sand, I think about it as an analogy to my faith. How quickly the tides change- several times a day. Oftentimes I will ask the Lord for something and even before the next tide has come, I have started doubting.

From year to year the sand on the shore changes. Sometimes it's mostly rocks. Other times it's all sand. I think our lives are like this, too. Our walk with the Lord can be smooth (not to say it's not hard), we trust Him through every situation without doubting, and other times things are rocky- we find excuses not to spend time with Him, we don't trust Him with the decisions we need to make, and we doubt that He is near us.


The sand on the beach reminds me of how quick I am to doubt instead of believe, but every day- hear me on this- every day is a new beginning. Just as the sand and ocean are always there, so is our Lord. When we allow the wind to blow us in the wrong direction, the Lord remains steady- no tide change.

I remember sitting on the beach one night years ago with a dear friend. We prayed together, and I remember laughing and singing "Ocean" with her. But when you stop and thinking about it, there is just something about the ocean.



It is in the change if the tide and the sand on the shore that reminds of my need to "believe and not doubt".