The Surfing Linebacker
We were enjoying a couple of days at the beach with some new friends, Dan and Chloe. On the final morning, they invited us to try surfing. They regularly teach kids how to surf.
We nervously but excitedly agreed.
The kids did great, getting up on their boards on their first try! Then it was my turn.
As we waded out to our spot, I struggled to maneuver the pontoon-boat-sized surfboard. (Ok, it was actually just a paddleboard.) My instructor says to me, “You know, Dave, football is probably your sport. And I don’t mean Costa Rican futbol. I mean American football.”
Dude! And I already lacked the confidence to be able to hoist my 280-pound frame to a standing position on a wobbly piece of fiberglass…WHICH I DID (for a few glorious seconds).
But before we ever got in the water, Dan was teaching us about the ocean. “Where do waves come from?” he asked.
The moon? Nope. The gravitational pull from the moon causes the tides, but not the waves.
The cause of the waves? The WIND!
From that moment on, as I helped the kids learn, tried my hand at surfing, and played in the waves, the song was going through my head… “the waves and wind still know His name.”
What kind of Man is this…that the wind and waves obey Him?!
We read that phrase in Matthew 8:24-27.
Suddenly, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
This is our God. He rules over both the strong, powerful waves AND the source of them.
He rules over our sickness AND the cause of it.
He rules over our fears AND our past that causes them.
He rules over our circumstances AND what led up to them.
So wherever you are today, affirm this and maintain this heart posture:
“So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name!”
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
The Surfing Linebacker (Nº 303)
