Restlessness

 "Isn't it amazing that the waves never stop? They just keep going and going and going forever!" I remember, many years ago, on our first trip to the beach as a family, my Mother in Law said this to me as we were launching in our beach chairs just chilling.  I didn't think anything of it back then.  I was just so thrilled to be there, her comment didn't really impacted me...though...the fact that I remember it, going on 9 years later, might indicate something different...

Today, we read Isaiah 57: 20 at the first Lenten study of the season, and her words came back to me as she was sitting next to me at church again.  

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.

The Pastor asked us what we thought of the passage, and my mind immediately went to that summer morning all those years ago.  I could hear the constant roar of the ocean fresh in my ears.  I could taste the salt in the wind.  I could feel the burn of the sun on my skin.  The word restlessness came to mind.  Then, I thought about me and how a sense of restlessness has always surfaced in my heart and soul.  A constant desire to move and to be on the go has characterized me to the point that it leaves everyone around me exhausted.  It's OK to be on the move, isn't it?  Stagnant water is the perfect breeding ground for pests and disease, right? It is the movement what keeps it clean, vibrant.  

But then, I see the last part of the verse...and remember that often, the constant waves "cast up mire and mud too."  That reminded me of last year's beach vacation.  We went to the Outer Banks and one morning, the waves made it impossible for us to enjoy the beach because with each tossing of the waves, the water brought up hundreds of nails and debris. We couldn't believe it!  We've never seen anything like it.  But, apparently, the nails and debris were from a house the sea had taken not long ago and it was bringing it it back to shore...spitting it back out...casting waste on the beauty of the area.  

Restlessness often equals no peace.  The incessant current could bring pollution too.  The soul has a hard time breathing when there is no time to be still.

I didn't say anything tonight at the study, but now that I'm taking some time to think back, I just want to lift up a prayer to Our Father in Heaven who can make all things new, asking Him to grant us the wisdom to look around and see the blessings so contentment can fill our wandering spirit and quiet our restless hearts.  The ocean never ceases...neither does the Lord. In Christ name, the One Whom the Winds and the Waves Obey.  Amen!