My Day at the Beach That Wasn't Any Such Thing
by Shawn McEvoy For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me… (2 Samuel 22:5). Your wrath lies heavily upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves (Psalm 88:7). I have many times stood upon the shore of a peaceful Atlantic ocean gazing East to the sunrise, pondering the vastness and the depth of God. This was not one of those times. Today, I wanted to catch some fish. It was my only two hours of alone time during the whole week of family vacation to Isle of Palms. I decided to bike down to the point I'd walked to earlier that morning. This was mistake number one. I popped the chain on that old bike about half-way down the beach, and ended up having to push it the rest of the way with one hand while holding my fishing pole (and trying not to hook myself) with the other. When I finally got there the waves had risen to a height I'd not encountered in any of my last four seasons on Atlantic beaches. I could barely cast my lure over them, and if I did succeed, I'd soon get knocked over. So, alright. You know what? I've been wanting a showdown. "Let's see whatchya got," I said, to either myself, God, or the forces of nature. I took my pole back to shore and I waded out to war. I adopted my best linebacker stance and stood up to the six-foot waves as best I could. I tried body surfing and nearly swallowed a gallon or two of seawater. I tried jumping over, diving under, and shouldering through. And while I was doing all of it I was telling God or whoever would listen how hard a time I'd been having of it. ("Sure," you're saying, "a week of luxury beach vacation with the family; you're really struggling." But it's true). Why do I put on weight so easily? Why do you not seem to hear me anymore? Why am I not satisfied in my soul? Why do my simplest desires – like to ride a bike down a beach and catch a fish – result in such discouraging and powerful setbacks? Why is my faith bruised and how do I start to care for the people of God again? Huh?! Nothing. Just wave after wave after pounding after pounding. | 
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