We Are Not AloneSample

At the beach

Today, we change tack for this Pentecost series. Over the next few days, we will consider how the Holy Spirit moves in the lives of people in all kinds of places to bring about something better for them and those around them, reminding us that we are not alone.

Perhaps a good place to start is the beach. In the Gospels, God moved powerfully on beaches, sometimes in the lives of individuals, sometimes in large crowds. The beach was the setting for the Apostle Peter’s restoration to leadership after his denial of Jesus. ‘Do you love me?’ Jesus asked Peter three times. ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you,’ Peter answered him. ‘Take care of my sheep,’ Jesus said.

The beach is a good place for us to go to experience spiritual restoration. We sense God is with us as the waves roll in with the kind of rhythm that could only be attributed to the Maker of Heaven and earth. We hear their breaking, see their movement, smell the sea, breathe in the sea air and can choose to feel the water mixed with sand between our toes.

A conversation begins to form deep within us. ‘I am with you,’ we sense the Spirit of Jesus saying. ‘You can trust me, do life with me, trust my guidance, trust the courage and strength I am giving you for every challenge and every opportunity.’ The Scripture also comes to mind: ‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20). As we look out over the beach, we remember the psalmist’s prayer and find ourselves praying, ‘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’ (Psalm 139:17-18). Thankfulness and praise flow from our lips and our experience at the beach lingers long in our hearts.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I can see myself at the beach and, like Peter, you coming to me and restoring my soul and my confidence in you. I pray today that I will experience your glory as Lord and the giver of new life. Amen.