I used to enjoy surfing, and I love learning about the ocean. It’s tides and what forms waves and rip currents are always topics of conversations with new people who join us at the beach. I’ve become the source for all water-related information like temperature and when the next high tide is. This week is my family’s yearly vacation to the beach. I love the beach, the first morning I was here I was out on the sand dune reading through Luke, and I could help but think of this passage in Job as I was looking out of the ocean.
8 “Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst forth, coming out of the womb, 9 when I made the storm clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 when I prescribed its limits, and set in place its bolts and doors, 11 when I said, ‘To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined’?” (Job 38:8-11 NET)
In the Ancient Near East, people saw the ocean as where chaos and evil originated. Here in Job, we see that God has dominion of the ocean, including the forces of chaos and evil. He’s in charge. He even stops its boundaries.
What areas in your life do you feel like you don’t have control over? The areas that seem chaotic and too powerful to get a grasp on yourself? Here in Job, we see that God has the power and authority to have control over every aspect of your life and the world. Maybe you’re in a season where a particular sin is out of control in your life, it’s time to give it over to Jesus. There is no sin too powerful that Jesus can’t overcome in your life. Come to Jesus, and He will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).
I have loved this week of vacation and rest but am excited to be back worshiping with you this weekend!
For His Glory,
Sean Best
College Pastor