June 26, 2006

On June 26, 2006, I was sitting on a secluded beach on the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands, and seeking the Lord.  I was pondering the crashing of the waves on the shore and thinking of how they demonstrate, in a very small way, His great power (Psalm 93:4), when He spoke the following to me.

"Don't look for waves to crash to show My power.  Remember, I am greater and more mighty than the crashing waves.  The most effective waves will land silently and will be completely absorbed."

Since I am a geologist, this was intriguing to me.  It is not normal for waves to be totally absorbed by the shore.  In the natural world, the waves crash on the shore and then return to the sea.  From Geology I know that all rocks or even loose material, such as sand, have a characteristic called porosity which is the pore space between the grains that make up the rock.  Rocks can therefore "absorb" or contain liquids to a certain degree.  If you fill up a glass with sand, even though the glass appears full you can still add water to it.  All other factors being equal, the greater the porosity, the more liquid a given rock can hold.

As I considered spiritually what Jesus had spoken to me, I realized that we need to be a people with a great capacity to contain the flowing waves of God as they wash over us.  Otherwise, they will pass us by, returning to the sea without accomplishing their purpose.  We could be immersed momentarily, but with no lasting result.  I believe this is how in a single location (such as a church service) some can be overcome with the Spirit while others experience virtually nothing of God.  It's a play on words in English, but I believe that as we become more "hole-ly", as we literally make more space for God in our lives, then He will likewise fill that space with more of Himself.

Then the Lord gave me more of the spiritual application:  "The waves build on each other.  They roll along sometimes imperceptibly.  But as they near the shore, they begin to roll over the previous wave that is now retreating and it creates a crash.  My waves [in the church and the Kingdom] are orderly as they cross My ocean.  But chaos comes as they run into the previous wave.  If the ground would receive them in full, there would be no interference with the following wave.

So it is with the movements in My church.  You must encourage my body to fully absorb each move or wave of My Spirit when it comes.  Only then will the next wave be able to arrive with minimal chaos and confusion."

While full absorption is not possible in the physical realm, in the spiritual realm it is.  One method would be as I described above where the porosity increases to such an extent as to be able to contain the entire volume of the wave.  Another would be through a sea level rise as described by Hope Reeder (Elijahlist word #5152, April 4, 2007).

"My waves are surely coming.  They are timed perfectly since the foundation of the world.  Each arrives in sequence as I have planned.  Likewise, all who are living on My shore will receive each wave.  However, just as in the physical world where a single wave affects different locations along the coastline at different times, so it is in the Spirit.  Some will receive the waves sooner than others.  The waves may seem a surprise to the first who receive them.  These places [people and churches] must learn to walk by faith as they do not know what is coming.  Those that receive the waves later have the advantage of seeing the wave's characteristics before it arrives at their location.  However, often these reject the wave as not of My Spirit.  They too must learn to walk by faith in Me and not by sight.

Some in my Body need to stay in one place and help those around them receive each wave.  Others need to run ahead of a particular wave to help prepare many to receive it.  But you must run in My timing: too slow and the warning is useless and a waste of your time; too fast and people will be discouraged when the wave does not arrive in their timeframe."

            So, I say:  "Be encouraged Body of Christ!"  The next wave is coming to you, no matter where you are!  Learn all you can from your last wave; receive it fully.  Then you will be prepared to receive the next one, and the next one, and the next one! 

I have included the following summary of verses about waves and the sea for further meditation:

1.  It is the Lord who made the sea.

Psalm 95:3-5  "For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.  The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land."

Exodus 20:11  "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day..."

2.  Of course, since He created the sea, then He is greater than the sea!

Psalm 93:4  "Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!"

Matthew 14:23-25  "And after he[Jesus] had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.  When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.  And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea."

3.  God's ocean and His waves are orderly.  It is the wicked nations, or the enemies of God that are described as chaotic waves or floods.

Psalm 93:3  "The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring."

Psalm 65:5-8a  ^"By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas;  the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might;  who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples,  so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs."

4.  God may stir up the waves in judgment to serve His purposes. 

Jeremiah 31:35  "Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar- the LORD of hosts is his name:"

Jeremiah 51:42  "The sea has come up on Babylon; she is covered with its tumultuous waves."

5.  Or He may calm the waves if they are not from Him. 

Psalm 89:8-9  ^"O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O LORD, with your faithfulness all around you?  You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them."

Mark 4:39  "And he[Jesus] awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!"  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."

6.  Our relationship to God's waves:  we should allow all that God has for us to "go over" or cover us and be willing to absorb the things He brings:

Psalm 42:7  "Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me." 

            If we don't do this, we will be immature, unstable and tossed around: 

Ephesians 4:11-14  "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes."

7.  Finally, we can trust God to bring us through any storm and into His rest.

Psalm 107:29-30  "He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.  Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven."

Jeffrey Moore