I painted this lovely seascape a few days ago and thought about the absolute joy the ocean always brings as I stand before it and look out unto its endless expanse. The whole world seems to fall away at it’s presence. How could anything so large, so deep, so vastly immense be tangible to the human eye. Yet there it is! The great depths, the unending space we call the sea. I don’t think there is a closer earthly metaphor to eternity than that of this great body of water.
The waves crash against the sparkling sand, the foam rises and falls with the curve of the waves, it ebbs and flows and cyclically repeats itself to a beautiful pattern of harmony and oneness. I feel the peace of being out of control, something greater than my frail human frame controls these forces. I don’t have to perform anything, simply watch, and stand in awe. My creator controls His sea and He controls the ebb and the flow of my life as well. For He is God, and there is no other.
Ebbs and flows, such is life, with its waves of blessing and happy times, along with its flows of sorrows as sea billows roll. So far 2023 has had great sorrow for friends, some dear ones to me, and illness to family members. Life has its sorrows, it’s losses, they come, like the great hymn writer expresses, in the poignant hymn, It is well with my Soul”. As I age I see this reality more and more. We were never intended to make this old world our home. We are merely passing through, on our way to a better country. Pilgrims on a journey to our homeland is what we are, and sometimes the road gets a little rough.
It’s in these times we wonder, ” where are you God? ” Has he left us, to fend for ourselves? Has he lost interest in this dull coarse of events and chosen to focus on more worthy endeavors, than my pitiful state? No! He is here, right beside us in these times. He never left us before, and He won’t leave us now. Though we cannot see Him, sense Him or trace Him, His purpose will not fail, and is ever at work in our lives.
He promises, “He who began a good work in you will complete unto the day of redemption.” He hasn’t given up on us. He never breaks a promise. What He wants is our trust, our supplication in prayer, and our dependence on His precious and magnificent word.
We, are on our way to heaven, if we have placed our faith in the Son of God and His all atoning sacrifice for us on the cross. Though deep sorrows and blissful joys ebb and flow, He knows the way that we take and will be at the end of this road, with his arms open wide to welcome us home.
Sarah Hopkins Art 