What a Wave!

Twice a year my parents took me and my siblings to spend a week at the beach in a little town called Pangandaran. We packed our van with all the supplies we would need: food, snacks, towels, swimsuits, medicine for the inevitable minor injuries, games, pillows, and a table fan for Mom (the rest of us just had to figure out how to sleep through the hot nights!)

Pangandaran, a fishing village, was only popular with locals during my childhood, so the tourist population was low. We basked in the simple joy of a no-frills vacation. All entertainment was self-made. We spent hours on the beach and in the ocean. 

Body Surfing

A favorite activity was body surfing.

Imagine standing in waist-high water there at the beach…

Maybe just a little bit deeper…there, that’s good.

Wait for that water swell, 

there it is…slightly bigger than the previous ones you let pass by. 

The tip is lifting higher, higher…

Looks like the wave is going to break just past you. 

Perfect! 

Get into position: face the shore, eye the path forward. 

As the tide tugs at you, paddle against it with your hands until the wave is upon you. 

Now, arms out like you are going to dive, and jump forward. 

Hold stiff and straight. 

The wave has caught you and you can feel it’s strength all around you, pushing you forward. 

Water is splashing in your face and you can’t see very well. But you know you are riding that wave because every part of your body is in the wave except your hands that stick out in front…the only thing anyone on the shore can see of you. 

For those thrilling moments, you glide…

Until you feel the ground under your belly. 

You’ve made it all the way to the shore! 

The wave retreats and you lie in the sand, grinning. 

That’s body surfing.

Once you learn the “stance”, the key is to hold it and do nothing else but let the wave carry you. At the end, when the water ebbs and you’re flat on your belly, face in the sand, the onlookers say, “That was a great wave!” And if they comment on you, it’s only to say, “Way to do nothing!” Because once you catch the wave, anything but nothing will stop the progress.

The same in life. 

Unless we abide in Christ the Vine, we cannot accomplish worthy things. But for God, all things are possible. And since we believers are filled with His Spirit, He works through us, causing us to be fruitful (John 15:5). 

Like Saul, kicking against the goads (Acts 26), when we start squirming, we accomplish nothing but our own hurt. And even when we do good on our own, those deeds are nothing but filth (Isa 64:6). We must, then, abide (remain, dwell, continue, endure) in Christ. 

Hold still.

Let the wave carry me. 

That’s what I learned from body surfing. 

Abide in Christ.

Let Him do the work in and through me. 

That’s what I’m learning in life. 

At the end of my time on earth, I want the observers of my life to say, 

“She trusted God to move and did nothing on her own.” 

What a wave!