The Love of Waves

This past weekend I went on a beach retreat with my college ministry.
It left me speechless and awestruck many times.
One thing that really stood out for me this weekend, was the waves.

I've always loved the ocean. The view is ridiculous, and the feeling is insane.
The past month or so, I started surfing again. Not well, I might add, but I'm getting there. My arms get really sore, pathetically soon after I start paddling out, so I take a lot of breaks where I just lay on the board and stare at the horizon. I don't mind it though.
It's an incredible feeling just floating in the water, being moved by it, and being able to just enjoy the world around. I float a lot because of that reason.
Getting back into surfing has reminded me of a few things; the waves aren't always strong [that's when the surf sucks] and sometimes their ferocious and wild [that's when things get exciting], sometimes you get caught off guard by the power of a wave, or just an unexpected wave in general, and sometimes you're ready to take on the waves, but other times you're not.
There was a set rolling in fast and I was paddling back out, so I wasn't really prepared to take them on. I did a turtle dive to protect myself from the first wave that was coming, opened my eyes in time to see another one coming, so I did the same thing. When I came up from that wave, I had barely opened by eyes when a huge wave crashed over me and the surfboard. I was completely unprepared, because I didn't see it coming, and the board ended up smashing my nose. Needless to say, it seriously hurt when I touched it.
Crazy experience, but I didn't let it hold me back from getting back out there. I didn't want to just give up, because, yea, my nose was killing me, but the experience and feeling I got from it was way too amazing to just let go.

Over the retreat this weekend, I kept finding myself staring out the window during sessions. Whether it was worship, or someone talking, if I wasn't looking at the person leading or had my eyes closed, I was staring at the waves. I couldn't get over them. I was just so mesmerized by them every time I saw them.
There was one night where we had worship on the beach. That was awesome. Clearly I was staring at the waves nearly the whole time. There was one point, things got quiet and we sang softly, where I realized that the waves never turn off. I mean... I already knew that, but I never really thought about it before. The waves never stop crashing, even when the world has gone to sleep, they keep on rolling in.
It was Sunday around lunchtime when it all hit me; the waves, to me, represent God's love for us. Sometimes they're overwhelming and they take us over in a rush. Those are the times we can really feel God's love and we know we're experiencing something magnificent and powerful. Sometimes they're weak and we can't really feel them moving us, just as sometimes we can't really feel God's love, but it doesn't mean they're not rolling in. The waves never stop, and neither does God's love.
Sometimes, when we put ourselves out there, we face obstacles that can hurt us and bring us down, wounding us, but the power and might of God's love is greater than anything that might overtake us. His love is so much more powerful.
It's also like the ocean in the vastness of it. Floating on the surfboard I just looked out at the horizon, unable to really grasp the size of the ocean I was in. God is the same way, as is His love. It's so big and so uncomprehendable. We can't contain it, and sometimes we can't understand it, but that doesn't matter, because what does matter is that His love exists and is ever present and ever moving.

Dang.