Walking along the beach, I was searching for sea glass, the frosted, broken fragments of what once was a whole vessel. The beauty of the glass is unique to each piece as the pounding ocean and tumbling tide create individual stones. The small collection I have is a mosaic of blues, greens and what was once a clear glass now turned to a frosty white. What once was part of an usable bottle, has now been altered and for most is merely trash, without value, but for the collector, it is a rare prize found by diligently seeking the miles of shore.
We are all sea glass, in various stages of wear and tear. Sometimes our lives are quiet, as we lie in the protected coves of life, where the tide merely ebbs and flows over us, allowing the sun the hit our edges, creating refracted beauty for those who glimpse our way and find us living in the calm. Other times however, hurricane forces enter our lives and we are ripped from the cove and violently tossed against the rocks and coral, leaving enduring marks that will tell the story of our journey. It is in these storms, that our character is altered.
Sea glass is nothing more than glass, lost or discarded along the shore, that has been worn smooth by the tumbling action of the waves against the shore. Each surge of a wave drags that piece of glass across the sand and pebbles, wearing it, smoothing it, and shaping it with the random and rhythmical power of the sea, creating a frosted and worn surface.
We are not lost or discarded people, but we have a Father who never leaves us or forsakes us. We are being shaped by the Lord, but not in a random, cataclysmic manner, but rather ordained events, meant to make us into the image of Jesus. These events can draw us to our knees, at times clinging to the Rock, so as to not be swept away by the ferocity of the storm, while at other times, in the calm we must be more proactive in keeping on our knees as the “weather” of our life allows for an “easier” existence.
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1
One thing I have seen in the current hurricane of my life is that God is not silent in the midst of it. His voice can be easily heard over the wails of the winds and the crashing sea waves. He many times is more easily seen during these intense battles, where the war is not against flesh and blood, and we must rely completely on our Father to fight for us. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
On a drive through the glorious central coast, last weekend, I was desperately seeking God’s touch. I felt His love as I read Romans 8, in The Passion Translation. This may be long, but read it, in this version and listen to the truth that is unalterable and the His love that is undeniable.
I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us. The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters! For against its will the universe itself has had to endure the empty futility resulting from the consequences of human sin. But now, with eager expectation, all creation longs for freedom from its slavery to decay and to experience with us the wonderful freedom coming to God’s children. To this day we are aware of the universal agony and groaning of creation, as if it were in the contractions of labor for childbirth. And it’s not just creation. We who have already experienced the first-fruits of the Spirit also inwardly groan as we passionately long to experience our full status as God’s sons and daughters—including our physical bodies being transformed. For this is the hope of our salvation.
But hope means that we must trust and wait for what is still unseen. For why would we need to hope for something we already have? So because our hope is set on what is yet to be seen, we patiently keep on waiting for its fulfillment.
And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words.
God, the searcher of the heart, knows fully our longings, yet he also understands the desires of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit passionately pleads before God for us, his holy ones, in perfect harmony with God’s plan and our destiny.
So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose. For he knew all about us before we were born and he destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of his Son. This means the Son is the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like him.
Having determined our destiny ahead of time, he called us to himself and transferred his perfect righteousness to everyone he called. And those who possess his perfect righteousness he co-glorified with his Son!
So, what does all this mean? If God has determined to stand with us, tell me, who then could ever stand against us? For God has proved his love by giving us his greatest treasure, the gift of his Son. And since God freely offered him up as the sacrifice for us all, he certainly won’t withhold from us anything else he has to give.
Who then would dare to accuse those whom God has chosen in love to be his? God himself is the judge who has issued his final verdict over them—“Not guilty!”
Who then is left to condemn us? Certainly not Jesus, the Anointed One! For he gave his life for us, and even more than that, he has conquered death and is now risen, exalted, and enthroned by God at his right hand. So how could he possibly condemn us since he is continually praying for our triumph?
Who could ever separate us from the endless love of God’s Anointed One? Absolutely no one! For nothing in the universe has the power to diminish his love toward us. Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven’s love. What about persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats? No, for they are all impotent to hinder omnipotent love, even though it is written:
All day long we face death threats for your sake, God.
We are considered to be nothing more
than sheep to be slaughtered!
Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything!
So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!
We are all broken vessels, scattered sea glass that is meant to reflect the the Son. As believers, around the world, broken, yet made whole in Christ, let us use our brokenness to create a unique beauty in the world. “So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.”