Does the beauty of God’s creation ever take your breath away? I know I’m guilty of just taking each day as a it comes, not really giving a lot of thought to it unless something special happens like a blazing sunrise or sunset or a magnificent thunderstorm complete with lightning. But, as we travelled on our vacation, we saw things you don’t see in Ohio.
Flying around 13,500 feet meant climbing above the clouds and seeing nothing underneath except white pillows. After a while of that, the brightness of the sun was becoming blinding and nearly everyone, including myself, closed the shield for our windows. It was time to read, watch TV, or snooze. I did them all! About an hour and a half before landing, I curiously opened the blind and was stunned with what I saw. It was the top of the Rocky Mountains, covered in patches of snow and green grass. Absolutely beautiful!
Then there was Saturday. Finding the words to describe it are eluding me. Sitting on our balcony, all we can see is water. Water touches the horizon as wind and waves with white caps gently rock the ship. The last 24 hours have been rather foggy which adds a bit of mystique to the scene. The air is crisp and even though the capacity of the ship is 4,905 passengers and 1,500 crew members, you feel as if you are the only ones on the ship. It is an alluring peace and tranquility that has to be experienced.
If we were the only ones on board, if everyone abandoned ship and we never got the
notice, we would still never be alone. Psalms 139:7-10 asks, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (8) If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. (9) If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; (10) Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
Alaskan cruises take a couple of different water routes, depending on where in Alaska the cruise is headed. Some take what’s known as the Inside Passage. Depths in this area vary with some areas reaching depths of nearly 3,000 feet. Other cruises might travel the Outside Passage and Gulf of Alaska. The Gulf has depths as great as 9,900 feet while Alaskan cruises going through the Aleutian Trench between the Komandor Islands and the Gulf has a maximum depth of 27,000 feet.
Manned submersibles can safely take a person nearly 35,858 feet deep. This was accomplished in a section of the Mariana Trench known as Challenger Deep. I cannot imagine the feeling of isolation that must squeeze the person diving so deep. Yet, the person reaching these depths cannot escape the hand of God and His amazing presence.
As Christians, we are not isolated. We are insulated, kept by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, a gift that Jesus said would “abide with you forever.” Though we may feel isolated at times due to the absence of close physical contact with people, troubling situations we are enduring, or the sadness that creates loneliness, we need to encourage ourselves that God is always with us.
Maybe you are running from the Lord, trying to avoid Him because of sin in your life. Let me ask you a simple question. How did that work out for Adam and Eve? How did that work out for Jonah. Jonah 1:10 says, “Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.” Jonah deceived himself, believing that he was going to make it all the way to Tarshish but God had other plans.
If you are trying to pull a Jonah, making a fast get-away from God, you need to make a U-turn and head right back to the Lord. Get things right with the Lord today!
Proverbs 27:8 says, “As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.”
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