Some of the times I feel closest to God are also some of the simplest.
Early morning.
Quiet water.
A sunrise starting to break across the horizon.
A boat moving with the wind.
Standing on an empty beach before most of the world seems awake.
There is something about being around the water that slows everything down for me.
The noise gets quieter.
The things I was worried about seem a little less important.
And I start noticing again just how incredible God's creation really is.
I need that more often than I probably realize.
I Get Caught Up in the Noise Too
Life gets busy.
I start chasing the next thing.
Work.
Money.
Plans.
Goals.
Problems that need solving.
Things I want to accomplish.
Places I want to go.
Things I convince myself I need.
None of those things are necessarily wrong.
I believe in working hard. I believe in building things. I believe God gives us abilities, opportunities, passions, and responsibilities that we should take seriously.
But I also know how easy it is for me to let those things become too important.
I can spend an entire day thinking about what needs to happen next and barely stop to appreciate what is happening right now, or what has already been provided.
Then I get near the water.
And somehow the rhythm changes.
Creation Has a Way of Getting My Attention
I have watched enough sunrises over the ocean to know they never really get old.
Same sun.
Same ocean.
Never quite the same morning.
Some are bright and clear.
Some barely break through the clouds.
Some mornings the water is almost perfectly calm.
Others look angry before the day even starts.
But there is beauty in all of it.
I can stand there looking across an ocean I could never create, control or fully understand and be reminded very quickly that this life is much bigger than whatever I was stressing about an hour earlier.
There is an entire creation moving according to a design far beyond anything I could ever manage or comprehend. For me, it puts into perspective just how vast and infinite God is, and just how small my worries are.
That brings me peace.
It also puts me back in my place.
The Good Times Are Easy to Appreciate
There have been seasons when walking with God has felt easy.
Things are going well.
Prayers seem to be answered.
The path ahead feels clear.
There is momentum and purpose.
Life feels good.
Those are the moments when gratitude seems almost automatic.
It is easy for me to look at a beautiful sunrise and thank God.
Easy to stand on a calm beach and feel blessed.
Easy to recognize His goodness when life looks like I hoped it would.
But my relationship with God cannot only exist there.
Because life, like the ocean, does not stay calm.
I Have Felt Him in the Storm Too
There have also been seasons when I did not understand what God was doing.
Times when things did not go according to my plan.
Times when I wanted an answer and did not get one.
Times when I prayed for one outcome and got something completely different.
Those seasons test me differently.
It is one thing for me to say I trust God when everything is working.
It is another thing to trust Him when I cannot see where the situation is going.
I wish I could say I always handle that perfectly.
I don't.
Sometimes I question.
Sometimes I get frustrated.
Sometimes I try to take control of things that were never really in my control to begin with.
Sometimes my prayer is confident.
Sometimes it is nothing more than:
God, I don't understand this, but I trust You.
I have learned that both scenarios are necessary. Otherwise, faith would not be needed.
The Storm Does Not Mean He Left
I think about the disciples caught in the storm with Jesus.
The wind was blowing.
The boat was taking on water.
They were scared, and several of them were salty men—men who had grown up sailing and fishing these waters for a living.
And Jesus was still there.
That story has always meant something to me because the presence of the storm did not mean the absence of God.
That is something I need to remember in my own life.
When things become difficult, my first reaction can be to wonder where God is in all of it.
But looking back, the times when I have grown the most in my faith were not during the easy seasons.
They were when I had to keep walking without knowing exactly where the road was going.
The storm did not always disappear when I wanted it to.
But I was not walking through it alone.
Calm seas do not make good sailors. Sometimes you have to go through the storms to learn what you never would have in the calm.
Sometimes the Water Helps Me Hear Again
I do not believe you have to be on the ocean to be close to God.
But I know what being there does for me.
It gets me away from the constant movement.
Away from the phone.
Away from the next notification.
Away from the endless list of things that supposedly need my attention right now.
Sometimes I need enough distance from all of that to realize how much of it really does not matter.
On the water, I find myself talking to God differently, and more often.
There is less formality.
I thank Him more and ask less of Him.
Sometimes I ask Him questions.
Sometimes I just sit there in wonder.
I look around.
I take it in.
And I remember that before I started trying to build a life, I had already been given one.
I Don't Want to Miss the Life I Already Have
That is probably one of the things I wrestle with most.
I am always looking ahead.
There is another goal.
Another idea.
Another thing I want to build.
Another place I want to reach.
And ambition can be good.
But I do not want to spend my whole life chasing tomorrow and miss everything God placed around me today.
The people I love.
The opportunities already in front of me.
The ability to wake up and see another sunrise.
The chance to stand beside the ocean, paddle into a wave, cast a line, sail somewhere new or simply sit quietly and watch the water move.
Those things may not look impressive on a résumé.
But to me, they are far more important than a résumé.
And I believe they matter more than a lot of the things we spend our lives competing for.
The Ocean Keeps Me Humble
The ocean has always been good at reminding me how small I am.
I can prepare.
I can study conditions.
I can make a plan.
I can become more experienced.
But I am never in charge out there.
I respect that.
And in a strange way, I find comfort in it.
I do not have to be in control of everything.
That may be one of the hardest lessons for me to carry back onto land.
My faith asks the same thing of me.
Do the work.
Make wise decisions.
Prepare.
Keep moving.
And even after all the planning and “wise” decisions, I sometimes find that the direction I was so confident was right turns out to be completely wrong...
I believe one of the most difficult things a man has to do in this life is fully surrender. For me, that means taking myself out of the equation sometimes.
It is very easy for me to choose what seems best for me every time, but when I do that, I am putting myself in God's place instead of under God's authority.
I do not know everything that is coming.
I cannot control every outcome.
And I do not need/want to.
Through the Calm and Through the Storm
My walk with God has had both.
Calm water and rough water.
Confidence and questions.
Gratitude and frustration.
Times when I felt like I knew exactly where He was leading me and other times when all I could do was keep moving forward and trust He was there... somewhere.
I'm still learning what that looks like.
I probably always will.
But the water keeps bringing me back to something simple.
Slow down.
Look around.
Be grateful.
Remember who created all of this—and that I get to experience it.
Remember who carried me through the storms I thought would never end.
Remember that the things I spend so much time chasing are temporary.
And remember that God has been faithful in the calm, faithful in the storm, and present through all of it.
Sometimes I just need to get far enough away from the noise to notice Him again.
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