“…all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”
–Psalm 139:16b (NIV)
A wise person once said, “Every woman should have a place where her soul finds peace.” I can pinpoint my place down to the square inch. And I’m utterly convinced God created it with me in mind. Know what? He created a space with you in mind, too.
On Hatteras Island, North Carolina, there’s a stretch of golden sand that looks like any other beach on the planet. There are sea shells and some driftwood. Halfway up the dunes, just past where the last house is built, you can occasionally see the wood hull of an old boat wreck. Near sunrise in the fall, you might find a fisherman or two getting an early start, but more often than not you’ll be by yourself. If I didn’t know God is everywhere all of the time, I might easily be convinced that He lives on that beach.
That spot is where the poem “Footprints” comes to life for me. Walking there early in the morning, I can almost feel Jesus stepping along beside me. Sometimes, when I’m closer to the dunes away from the water, one little rogue wave will race up and tickle my toes. I laugh every time, because I imagine God is playing His own little game with me.
Maybe He is, and maybe He isn’t, but I have to wonder if a God who would sacrifice everything for His children would be above having some fun with them, too.
There’s something about that place. It’s not better than anywhere, it’s simply that when I’m there, I tend to be still and to listen a little better.
When we received orders to Fort Drum a few years ago, my life was a whirlwind of confusion and missed turns. I’d been certain I heard God say we were going somewhere else. We couldn’t find a rental home. The wait for housing was long. My husband was about to go ahead of us to wait for an undetermined amount of time to work until we had a place to live. I stood by the waves, and God brought a peace I have never known before. He was simply there with me.
A few months later, after my husband left for Iraq, I was there again. That time, I stared across the water and waited for God to make me feel better.
He didn’t. Instead, He asked me to surrender. He made me put my husband in His hands. Only then did I find peace. Click To Tweet
During that long deployment, I was listening to an old Ten Shekel Shirt song, “Oceans,” when God did that thing where He whacks me upside my hard head and drops me on my knees. It was like He said to me, “I made that for you.”
Huh?
“I made that for you.”
“You made what for me?”
“That beach. I made it for you.”
“God, with all due respect, there is no way you made a stretch of sand where other people have built their houses, where countless boats have landed through the ages, where sea turtles and birds have laid eggs… There is no way you made it just for me.”
“I didn’t say ‘just’ for you; I said ‘for’ you.”
“Clarify.”
“When my finger divided the water from the land and told the sea ‘this far and no further,’ I saw everything that would happen from the day of its birth to the end of time, and I saw you. I knew where you would walk. I knew which waves would bathe your feet. I saw you smile when they did. I knew you would come hurting and wondering and waiting for me. I knew you would find peace. I knew you would be quiet and let me give you answers. And while I made it for sea turtles, birds, boats, and other people… You were on my mind, I made it with you in mind.”
Wow.
God amazes me. I wonder how He keeps it all straight? So many things fit together so perfectly, each thing affecting the next thing, each person touching the next. It’s massive, like the ocean or the sand on the shore, but God keeps track of it all. He cares about each of us in a personal, precious way. Click To Tweet
No wonder, right after David marveled out how God had laid out his days, he exclaimed, “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: 17-18a, NIV).
So, I’m wondering… Although we know God is everywhere, do you have that space where He feels extra close? Where you let yourself be quiet and still so you can hear His voice? Click To TweetMaybe it’s a space at home or in your own back yard. If you don’t have that special place, where can you go to set aside time to simply be still with the God Who is big enough to know all of your days but close enough to sit beside you?
Additional Resources you might find helpful:
Finding Christ in the Struggle: Encouragement for Those With Chronic Illness
7 Days
This chronic illness battle can feel exhausting and, at times, defeating. In our daily struggle, we struggle, we might feel isolated and alone. While our emotions are valid, the truth is, God stands with us. He sees our hurts, our challenges, our fears, and our hopes. May this plan remind you of His steadfast love and faithful presence. Written by Victoria Mejias and edited by Karen Greer and Jennifer Slattery
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