Editor's note: Yesterday, we shared two devotions from The Beach Is Calling. You can read them here and then continue reading below.
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God’s love is meteoric, His loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, His verdicts oceanic. Yet in His largeness nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks. — Psalm 36:5-6 The Message
Standing at the ocean makes us feel small. It’s overwhelming at times to know that the One who created it, pooled it and is keeping it in place is watching over every detail of every living thing on earth. Down to the lowly sparrow. Is it possible because His life is in every breath taken? It’s amazing to think about and too profound to comprehend. At the same time, it’s the most comforting assurance Jesus gave us. He told us the Father knows when a sparrow falls, and if that isn’t enough to realize your worth to Him, He also knows the number of hairs on your head. These truths seem impossible in our finite thinking.
To be sure, God is paying close attention. When we think He can’t possibly know or care about this little problem we’re facing today, or that He’s overlooked us because, let’s face it, there are far more serious things happening all over the world, we’re just flat-out wrong. He sees. And because His love for us couldn’t be measured if we emptied every ocean drop-by-drop, He cares with every inch of His gigantic, Father’s heart.
He knows that when He shows up in the tiniest details, it makes us even braver for the big things.
Let’s start the day by taking every little thing to Him while we have our morning coffee. What’s our day look like? Are there things we’re a little anxious about? Is there stuff we need a little wisdom to tackle? Will there be unexpected things He already knows about that we’ll need a little courage to handle?
God is ready to pour His love into every little part of our day. Nothing is going to slip through the cracks—and everything is going to be okay.
Father, I’m laying the little things at Your feet today and letting Your love cover me and carry me through.
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Searched and Seen
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties. — Psalm 139:23 NKJV
At the ocean is one of the few places on earth where our soul seems to whisper: “Just breathe. God is bigger than every worry. God is greater than any fear. God is closer than the breath I’m taking.” He knows us. He knows our deepest struggles and understands our weaknesses. He knows what causes our anxious thoughts and how tempting it is for us to dwell on them to the point of consuming our minds and crowding out the truth. When we ask Him to search our hearts, we invite Him to change us in the best possible ways.
We throw open the doors to every part of us to let His light expose things we’ve swept into corners, maybe because we haven’t been ready, or willing, to face them.
When God searches us and reveals areas of our lives that need His strength and our surrender, it leads to spiritual growth spurts. And every bit of that growth gets us closer to who we truly are, the purpose we’re truly made for, and the reflection of Jesus we truly want to be.
When God is showing us how to build our spiritual muscles, it’s a process that teaches us the discipline of complete trust and perfect rest.
The rewards we enjoy are fewer sleepless nights, less stressful days, and a lot more hope to carry us through even when the going does get tough. Trust is the spiritual muscle that needs a daily workout if we want to get the rest our minds and bodies yearn for. If we want the kind of relaxation that refreshes us on every level, we have to believe that whatever the day brings God has already seen—and He’s given us a promise to quiet the anxious thoughts and a truth to strengthen every part of our hearts.
Father, You see me as I am and love me more than I understand—I trust You to show me how to grow beyond my anxious thoughts and into Your perfect rest. Teach me to trust You more than I ever have before.
Excerpted with permission from The Beach Is Calling, copyright DaySpring Cards, Inc.
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Your Turn
God is paying close attention to everything going on in your life! Take every little thing to Him. He is bigger than every worry. Everything is going to be okay! ~ Devotionals Daily