The Ebb and Flow in Seasons of Life

Lessons From the Tide

Have you ever found yourself in a season (perhaps now) where “It just stinks”?

You know unending difficulty or unchanging discouragement
You can’t find a purpose for it
You seem to have no way to escape it
You long for a time when things will get better than this
You want to quit, throw in the towel, and be done with it

God speaks in those difficult, dark and dreary times if you are listening for His voice. It may come as insight beyond your own reasoning. It may come in words of help, hope, peace, or convicting surety. It might come in assuring, exhorting perspective, “This too will pass. Trust Me. Wait. Remain faithful.” God may speak when you are at your absolute lowest, because it is there that you are most receptive to receive and learn. And things won’t change until you do.

A spiritual life requires discipline because we need to listen to God, who constantly speaks but whom we seldom hear. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen

There are spiritual lessons that come from intentionally observing nature. Have you noticed? Stopping long enough not just look but to see? If you do, you will find that The Creator’s whiteboard is His Creation spread out for you to study. So noted, Creation-Alive principles point to Kingdom-Life principles. Indeed, the written Word of God primarily instructs us. Yet, God also powerfully speaks to us in the subtle, often overlooked ways and wonders of His works. It is on you to stop long enough, not to just to hear but to listen. I have certainly found this to be so true. Case in point: the tides.

Years ago on sabbatical I intentionally took 8 hours just to sit on a private floating dock. This tide dock on Casco Bay reached out between the rocks in front of a rented cottage on the lee side of Mere Point, Brunswick, Maine. I really desired, and desperately needed, uninterrupted time with God to simply watch, listen, read and pray. It may seem crazy, but I wanted to see what would happen if I did (yes, I also peacefully fell asleep a few times). In the end I must absolutely say, what I received there was one of the best investments of my sabbatical time.

There is a significant difference of perspective between wax and wane; be it tide or Life. At high tide the scenery was life-giving; all my senses conveyed sweetness and serenity. Sitting high I had a clear view. It was “smooth sailing.” But at low tide, with the dock bottomed out on the mudflats, it stinks! Now sitting low, stuck between the rocks, I had no the view, no horizon, and no way to freely sail away.

“Nothing lasts forever”, although at the times of low it may feel that way. The tide started to return; ocean water slowly began to seep in and cover the bottom. Eventually I sensed movement of the dock as it began to float. Hope seemed to rise as well. In time I could look over the rocks again to see what was beyond. It was as if life had returned off the bay. And, it didn’t stink anymore!

Two Lessons came from this extended time of observation and contemplation:

You can’t fight the tides, cycles, or seasons, but you can ride them out.
– If you don’t respect what you are in, you will only increase your difficulty of surviving.
Live through the low ebb, while while you look for the flow that will come.
– In low times don’t stop living but, with your eye on the God of Hope, live.

The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Life has it’s seasons and cycles, yet even in the lowest ebb, God’s Word still speaks: