The Tides of Life

ocean-tide     Several years ago some friends of mine took me duck hunting down on the coast near Back Bay. Now up to that point most of the duck hunting I had done had been at small ponds and in the marshes of Eastern North Carolina. We left the book dock about 4:00 AM (one reason I don’t duck hunt anymore) and found a good place to set up our boat blind and put out the decoys and went about the business of trying to call in ducks. It was not a good day for hunting but about 10:00 I looked out and noticed our decoys were no longer floating but actually sitting on mud. As was our boat. The one guy said not to worry the tide will come back in. Well it did…eventually but in order to get back to the dick before dark we had to do some really hard pushing through the mudflats. It seemed like we would never get out.

      But isn’t that true in life. There are two mistakes we make in life. When things are good we tend to think they will always be good. When things are bad, we tend to think they will always be bad.

      Both ideas are wrong. Life, and all it consists of — our marriage, our ministry, our relationships, our finances, our “approval rating”, etc. — tends to go up and down in cycles. As the old hymn says, there is an ebb and flow to life.

      Norman Vincent Peale tells the story of a struggling businessman who reached a turning point in life after seeing a picture of a boat stuck in the sand. The caption said, “The Tide Always Comes Back.”

      There is one constant in all of this: God’s faithfulness to us. And our ability to thrive depends on our faithfulness to him.

      As we are going through changes here at Cherry Avenue I know that there are going to be some tough times. I know that not everybody is going to be excited about these changes because they are either not what they are used to or they are going to cause difficulties (and let me add these are real difficulties) for them in getting to worship. During that time I try to remember “The Tide Always Comes Back.” Today, whether your tide is in or out, lean on the faithfulness of God. Be thankful for his goodness; be thankful for his mercy.

For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. (Psalm 57:10)


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