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Under the Waves


Under the Waves

Lately I've been finding my equilibrium only in my quest to know who Christ is.  Not just reading about Him but reading and then asking questions.  Not just gathering information but gathering information and investigating what it's saying or describing or bearing witness to. Not just studying but studying and then sitting back to absorb the blaring reality.  I'm off kilter when I'm tunnel focused on getting through or grasping desperately for a bit of truth I can immediately apply. I'm scrambling and struggling to find my footing and form something solid to steady my floundering mind. Enough of this. I want to be stable. I want to be steady. Be still. Rest. Crave the knowing. Fixed seeking. These things fasten my thoughts and halt the reeling. These things give grounding for choosing calm, ensuing triumph in the middle of chaos. Questions don't need to override answers. Fear doesn't need to display a jagged response. Calm. Grounded. Know.

The world offers all sorts of ropes for us to grab and hold, hoping this one will save me or give me hope.  The world will also measure my experiences by popularity and validate my person through praise. These can be wonderful but they are always, ALWAYS, fleeting. Never satisfying. Never grounding. They will get me through until I feel lonely again, or am lost again, or not sure where I'm going. Then I, wild and wide eyed, beg the world for another bit of confirmation. To tell me it's all going to be okay. To tell me I'm worth it. I want to be lovely and joyful and interesting. I crave and ride in the current of validation. Only, the words are human words coming from a human heart. They are not forever words that once were, are now, and forever will be.

What would happen if I gave a steady searching in something not of this world? Someone. Someone who created the beginning and knows all about me and wants - always wills - what's best for me? What would happen if I were relentless in my search and wonder and consider? And if my focus led to a forever love? The kind of quiet, solid, embracing that no performance could earn. Does this really breathe underneath the noise of the earth and the strife of the body? The noise and the strife are simply what we do. It is the current we live in. But what is underneath? If left unsheltered, what does our heartbeat actually sound like? How does it feel to be quiet? Steady. Wait. Search Christ, His character. Embrace the creation He made you to be.

Stop the reactionary life, legitimized by the esteem or the snickers. Live underneath the noise, underneath the constant waves, where the bedrock cannot be cracked, where you are warmed by a blanket of quiet security and muffled sound, where you are royal. It's calm awakening. You cannot be tossed to and fro while living below the noise. You cannot compare, as this is personal, your God created this. His beautiful human. It's only between you and Him. With this you can wear joy. And thanks. Practice grace. And growth. Love will stream from the intentional choices.

The commotion will be constant, pulling for our questioning eyes. But God is under the motion, under the waves... inviting us to sit on his breathtaking foundation. It's not shaky so you can stand on it. It won't change so you can depend on it. It's not fleeting so you can build on it. This quiet, this grounding cannot be moved by the to and fro. Instead, it's cemented feet, standing tall, and reaching strong, above the wild beauty called life, and remains outstretched for something - someone - so much brighter and solidifying than human praise.

Search. Search above you.

Know. Uncover royal you.

Be. Restore you.

Reach. Tunnel visioned, beyond constant waves.

Trust. God.

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