Sand

For those of you who dont know, I grew up by the beach. I mean on the day my mom gave birth to me, she was bodysurfing in the atlantic ocean. I guess I was just meant to be a beach bum. I remember when I was little my mom would pack up the car and take my brothers and I to the beach. It was fun for a while, then we would all be wet, sunburned, and tired; someone would have to go to the bathroom, and someone was mad at someone else. We would all pile back in the car, dragging six pounds of sand with us, and head home. For some reason I would always forget the whole wash your feet off before coming inside, well maybe i didnt forget, maybe i was just too lazy, and besides the hose was cold. So inevitably i would track sand throughout the house, which I am sure my mom loved. I never really liked sand that much, i mean you can build castles with it and lay in it, but when it comes down to it, its my least favorite part of the beach. I mean it gets everywhere, and no matter how hard you try you cant leave it at the beach. No matter how hard you try to stay clean and neat, it just doesnt happen. I remember i read this article once about this indoor beach in Japan that they were building. The cool part was that they were engineering sand that didnt stick to you feet, which i thought was awesome. You know if sand wasnt on the beach, i wouldnt be upset, in fact I think it would make me happy, maybe if grass was on the beach instead of sand.

But i guess when i think about it, as much as i hate it at times, sand is pretty cool isnt it. You ever pick up a handful of sand? Its crazy to think that within your hand there are millions of grains of sand. Think about how many grains of sand are on the beach you go to alone. Its a number i am sure we dont even have in our finite brains. I mean i think probably bring home hundreds of grains of sand a day from the beach each time i go. They are attached to my feet, in my pockets, in my hair, you see what i dont like about sand?

Now imagine back to when God was creating the universe, and he created the beaches and oceans. As God did this he placed every grain of sand in the exact place he wanted it to. He made white sand, black sand, red sand and placed them all over the world, but each grain was exactly where he wanted it, kinda crazy huh? If you were to ask God how many grains of sand there are on this planet, or at your favorite beach he would be able to tell you.

In Ocean City we know that almost every year we have to go and pump the beaches because we lose more and more beach. I guess a part of me wonders where all of it goes. I mean i know a lot of it goes down to Wildwood so their beach keeps getting bigger, but what about the rest of it. I think it would be cool to be able to follow one grain of sands journey through its "life". So at the dawn of time God created each grain of sand and placed it where he wanted to, but then we go to the beach, and some gets on our feet in our cars. So might get in our shoes, and then get knocked off our shoes at a different beach, and then we have sands from different beaches being mixed. You know how amazingly awesome God is? If you were to ask him where a specific grain of sand was, he could tell you. He has the power to know everything, to know where all the sand that started here went. To know the shape of the bottom of the ocean now compared to when he created it. He knows how many grains of sand on the seashore. Gods not just about the big things in life, but also the minute details. He is watching over it all.

You know in Matthew 10 it says that the hairs of your head are numbered. Run your hands through your hair for a second. How many do you think are there, could you venture a guess? If you were to ask God today he would be able to tell you, and tomorrow again, with a different number I am sure. You see God watches over everything and is holding everything together. Every thing you can see or imagine, you know the song he's got the whole world in his hands, well it may be a kids song, but its absolutely true.

I think for us its so easy to forget that God is holding everything together, even the minute things in life, even the number and loaction of the sand on the seashore and the hairs on your head. Its so easy for us to lose faith and start to think that God isnt looking out for us, or start to get worried that our lives are going to fall apart. Meanwhile God is here holding your life together, keeping track of every hair on your head, keeping track of every minute detail in your life. If God is powerful enough to keep track of every piece of sand on the seashore, or every hair on your head, dont you believe he is powerful enough to help you get through a tough time in your life? Dont you think he will be able to get you through that day that never seems to end?

The God we serve is so powerful, dont ever forget that. But the coolest thing about God is not only that he is concerned with the big things in life but the little things too. Dont be afraid to bring the little things to him in prayer. In Matthew 22 Jesus says that everything we ask in prayer will come true if we believe it will. Do you think God isnt powerful enough to work in your life? Do you think he isnt concerned with the little things? Think about the sand on the seashore and know that he is definitely concerned about even the little things in life, and a God that is powerful enough to keep track of the sand on the seashore is certainly powerful enough to keep up on the happenings of your life, and to hold you in his hands, and be with you.

Matthew 28:20 b - Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.