I remember standing at the rail on a cruise ship. Looking out in all directions and seeing nothing but ocean. The ocean liner appeared to be so massive when I boarded it. Now it seemed no bigger than a child’s toy boat in the bath tub.

The magnitude of the ocean is so great. Its depth, its width, its length is beyond measure. As I looked out at the ocean, I felt a greater appreciation for God’s creation. How awesome that third act of creation must have been. How God divided the waters to make continents and islands by saying,

"Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear."

As I looked out at the ocean, as I felt the rocking of the ship with the ever moving waters of the ocean, I gained an appreciation for the majesty of the ocean. More importantly, I gained a greater appreciation for God’s love.

God’s love is like the ocean. It is life. It is energy. It is endless vitality. It’s depth, width, length, is beyond measure. The Psalmist proclaimed,

God’s presence and love is beyond measure. God’s presence and love hits the beaches of our lives as consistently as the waves of the ocean hit the beaches of this world.

There are times in life when this truth doesn’t seem as evident. Over the past several months I have preached about those times. Times when life has its temptations, worries, storms, failures, burdens, delays and hard choices. For the most part we view such difficulties as obstacles which we strive to avoid. We see them as problems which strip us of our joy, of our peace.

Contrary to what some people may think, our afflictions are not God’s recreation. God doesn’t find enjoyment in watching us suffer. God sees our afflictions as means of re-creation.

Think about the waves of the ocean. Think about beaches you have visited. The beauty of each beach is being recreated with every wave. I remember a beautiful secluded beach in Bermuda. The beach was lined by some by beautiful rock formations. Rock formations which had been tunneled through. Rock formations which had become geysers with every wave. Rocks that were once jagged were now smooth as glass. All caused by the recreating powers of the ocean.

Not all beaches hold such beautiful memories. Take for example Normandy Beach. Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day to remember. How that beach reshaped and recreated history.

Memorial Day is: A day set aside to remember the women and men who laid down their lives; A day to remember the men and women we call minutemen, who fought our first war for freedom; A day to remember the veterans of the Civil War, the veterans of two World Wars, the Korean and Viet Nam war; A day to remember the veterans of desert storm. A day to remember the veterans of numerous other conflicts and peace keeping efforts.

Was it good that we had to fight these wars? No. I long for the day that the prophet Isaiah speaks, a day when,

"weapons will be turned into
instruments of peace."

Good or not, it is evident that the freedoms which we have today; the opportunities we have today; the country which we are today have been shaped by the outcomes of those wars. Each war recreated our nation. Each war reshaped daily life as we know it. Each war, is like the waves of the ocean, reshaping, re-creating the beach. And God said,

"Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear."

I have asked you this morning to think of the ocean. To think of Memorial Day. Now I ask you to think of your life. I am sure your life has been filled with joys and sorrows, successes and failures, sunny days and stormy days. Which has impacted your life more?

As I reflect on my life, the defining moments in my life are when I was humbled by adversity. When the crushing blow of life brought me to me my knees in prayer to God. It was there that I realized the truth of God’s recreating love.

Paul said because of that love we boast in our hope but,

Paul is calling us to see our difficulties not as obstacles, but as avenues; not as problems but as opportunities to grow. We rejoice in our difficulties not because we like pain, but because we know God is using life’s difficulties to build our character.

There is a story in the 3rd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, about a little ten year girl named Sarah. Sarah was born with a muscle missing in her foot, which required her to wear a brace all the time. One beautiful spring day she came home from school very excited. She couldn’t wait to tell her parents about the fact that she had competed in several races at field day. As she prepared to tell the story her father was thinking of words to encourage her, things he could say to her about not letting this get you down. Before Dad had a chance to offer words of consolation, she said, "Daddy I won two of the races!"

"I couldn’t believe it! said Sarah. The she said, "I did have an advantage."

Dad thought he knew it. She must have had a head start.

Sarah then asked, "Daddy, do you know what my head start was? My advantage was that I tried harder!"

Sarah’s father thought to himself. That’s heart. Her heart made all the difference.

We are called to run similar races in life. Races that reveal our only advantage is the heart of God. When our only advantage is our faith in that love of God. When we are called to run those races we need to remember James’ advice.

James said,

You and I can rejoice in our difficulties because like the waves of the ocean that reshape the beach our difficulties reshape our lives. The waves of life’s difficulties are used by God to recreate us; re-creating our life, our heart and our faith.

Amen

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