Encouragement

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Solomon wrote, "There is nothing new under the sun," and yet, so much is new to me. The changing tides of life lift and fall, as I sit upon a glistening crest and wonder what I should make of it all. Some days with compass in hand, I navigate toward some chosen land. Some days I’m tossed about—bounced around—my eyes unable to fix or focus. Some days I simply rest upon the calming wakes and watch the clouds float by, to dance a graceful waltz for me—"one-two-three, one-two-three..." And I find peace—the calming rest assurance that my life is safely in the hands of He who forever holds the seasons of the tides.

It is a simple matter, is it not—that I should acquiesce to walk the path that is my given lot? It may be simple for some. It is certainly not quite so cut and dry for me. For even as the seasons change the tides, it seems they cannot help but change what’s contained inside of me. I often am, to me, the epitome of up; and often (ironically) the epitome of down. Sometimes I walk the narrow road. Sometimes, sometimes, sometimes, I’ve difficulty reaching my point—meander, meander, meander—I wander aimlessly around. Perhaps I could not paint so perfect a picture as Paul, who said it and said it so clearly to us all, "That which I would do, I do not—and that which I do not wish to do, that is what I do." It is all so confusing at times, and all so very true—that I often do not, what it is I would do.

But I am not alone, and far be it from me to ever think it so. I turn to the left, or to the right, and there they are—those like me—up and down, to and fro. They ride the tides as seasons change and hold to their compasses as best they can. At times they come so very near. At times we lock eyes. At times we lock hands. At times our journeys are as one. It’s in those times I think I so very often find a harmony of life, even when the waters rage and bring us temporary strife. Just seems easier, I guess. You know, easier to endure life’s ebb and flow when locking arms in common bond with ones who have drawn near.

"There is," as songwriter Michael Card wrote, "a joy in the journey, there’s a light we can love on the way. There is a wonder and wildness to life, and freedom for all who obey." And as seasons of the tides change, and the seasons of the tides change in me as well—I ride upon the wakes and rifts and am in awe. What a masterful choreographer God is. He moves us together, He moves us apart. He moves in us, and He moves through us. He considers us and draws us near—nearer to Him, and nearer to each other. And as our currents cross and we are drawn together, I simply hope to encourage you, and bid you "Welcome to the dance."

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