“But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.” (Psalm 69:13)

I pause at the ocean’s edge of today, faint light streaming across the room as the morning yawns awake. The hours ahead are deep and wide with possibilities that will roar or foam across my pebbled path. Like the sequence of waves ticking up on shore, the minutes will ebb and flow, frolicking to-and-fro. Tick splash, tock splash, tick.

Today holds the potential for the new, untried, and delightful, packed with a generous helping of rich fullness on the side. On tiptoe I anticipate what lies ahead, aware that the Lord who crafted the seas and has a current count of all the grains of sand, knows me.

He might allow huge whitecaps to come crashing in, to knock me off my feet and bowl me over with their sudden motion. In all likelihood, I will not comprehend the why or how of the intensity. For my part, I would choose the gentler sprays, the tiny ripples, and the manageable currents to cross my swath of sandy shores.

He comes alongside both.

The Lord will not ask me to face either alone. Monstrous waves or pesky doldrums do not approach without his presence. The controller of the universe and its Creator supreme stands with me.

He is never undone by storms or restless seas. He has proven himself before. I will await his steadfast presence once more.

“Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me” (Psalm 69:14-16).

Elizabeth A Mitchell

Photo Credit: Emilio Garcia on Unsplash