Roll Like The Ocean
We celebrated 20 years of marriage a few weeks ago and were blessed to get to go on a trip to Cabo San Lucas. One reason why we chose Cabo for our anniversary was because of the fishing! Everyone that knows us is aware of the fact that my husband is an avid outdoorsman. I’m…..well, a little less outdoorsy, but for some weird reason I actually love deep sea fishing. So, for our anniversary, we both decided that we wanted to try and catch a big marlin or tuna… honestly just anything bigger and cooler than what we could catch in a lake in Texas. :) When we heard that Cabo was the best place to fish in December, we knew it was where we wanted to go!
On the day of our trip, we were at the boat by 6:45am, and by the end of our day, we had caught 15 (yes, 15!) Striped Marlin! The boat trip was about an hour to get back to the marina, so we just settled in for the ride and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We had actually seen several whales and dolphins earlier as well- truly a majestic sight to behold. As I was looking out over the water looking for more whales, I heard the voice of the Lord begin to speak to me. He said, “Notice how the ocean is just the ocean. It’s always been the ocean from the beginning of time when I created it to be what it is. There have been high times and low times in the ocean–storms come, tides change, rain is more plentiful in seasons and less in others, but yet the ocean never ceases to be the ocean. It is what I have created it to be. It doesn’t try to be anything else. It is the same with you. I have created you the way you are, and I have formed you the way I desired for you to be formed. I have put gifts, abilities, quirks, a personality, and strengths within you that make you who you are. And My Spirit is in you. You don’t stop being you because the season changes- you don’t lose ‘you’ because of loss, change, hard times or difficulty. You are exactly who I need you to be with My presence in you.”
The wind was whipping in my face, but tears rolled down my cheeks as I felt God’s tangible presence on the boat and heard His words echoing in my heart. I didn’t even know that I needed that from Him, but it was instantly a bandage on a place in my heart that needed healing. Our identity can be wrapped up in our job titles, what we do for our children, our talents or abilities… but many times when those things are changed or stripped away even, we can be rocked to the core and feel lost. What God spoke to me seems simple perhaps, but I know in my own life I have felt (even recently) that maybe I was missing something in myself to be able to do the thing God has called me to do…or that I had lost a part of me through the changing of seasons and enduring hardship. This one word from God a couple of weeks ago on that fishing boat brought me back to center- my true north. It reminded me that I’m good. My heart is good. I’m growing, and growth is a process- a journey. I was created for a purpose, but my first priority has always been and will always be just being a daughter of my King. Just being His and being with Him. Everything else will flow out of that relationship. If you’re looking for a 2023 resolution, how about just coming back to your first love, Jesus? Remember that you were created by the Most High God and the world needs you just as you are. Will growth be necessary? Of course. Will change happen? Yes, a lot of it. But at the core of who you are, you have royal DNA running through your veins and full permission to roll like the ocean does… so just be you.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.” -Psalm 139:13-18
