I listen to soft piano music as I go to sleep. After devotions & prayer I turn on piano hymns. It is a peaceful way to end the day. Mind on the Lord. I judge how tired I was by how many hymns I ‘make it through.’ On a day when I’m very tired I often fall asleep before the second song is finished!
There’s one exception. When I’m vacationing at the ocean, if I have an oceanfront room, I let the door to the ocean open. At night, after devotions, I go to sleep, not to the sound of piano, but to the steady pounding of the waves on the shore. I find that sound so relaxing! Steady! Constant!
The steady rhythm of the waves is a reminder to me of the steadiness of God’s faithfulness. The phrase “His love endures forever” is found in the Bible 91 times! As constant as the waves upon the shore is our Father’s love for you!
Is there some stress in your life? Relationship? Financial? Health? Loss! Loneliness? Some are stressed from recent elections! Burdened by the tough rhetoric of the campaign. As a conservative Christian pastor, I have felt threatened by the rhetoric of the liberal/progressive side of politics in our country. What would happen if I found myself in jail, as has been suggested, for not being willing to perform a gay wedding, or not willing to stop preaching that abortion is sin? Maybe you wonder if God really cares. Maybe God seems distant. Maybe your problems seem bigger than God! Stop! Like the endless pounding of the waves upon the shore, God’s love for you is constant! And know, whether we have conservative or liberal, Republicans or Democrats in power, or whether America thrives or perishes, God’s love is not in the least dependent on those things! As long as there are sinners who repent, believers who pray, churches who stand on God’s unchanging Word, God’s love endures forever! Constant! Find your peace in the waves upon the shore, and the waves of His love upon your life’s shore!
“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. To Him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. Who by His understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. Who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. Who made the great lights—His love endures forever. The sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. The moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1-9 NIV
“But LORD, you are more powerful than the roar of the ocean. You are stronger than the waves of the sea. LORD, you are powerful in heaven.” Psalm 93:4 NIrV
God’s love and power is constant as the waves upon the shore!
Larry Dentler – Executive Board member
