Who Controls the Ocean

This morning I was reminded that God could speak to us in his own way and in his own time. I was awakened from one of the best night's sleep that I have in a very long time by a dream. I have no doubt that it was God speaking to me.

In the dream, Glenn and I were talking about how our life just wasn't the same now that the kids were grown. We were reminiscing about the trips that we had taken, the little things that we had done as a family, and all the things that the two of us had planned for our family to do when the children were growing up. We also discussed how the times that we do spend with the kids is different and how much of that time is spent helping them work through their first real "adult" things rather than enjoying experiences. We also talked about our own lives and how more of time is being spent on the daily struggles of life, rather than relaxation and down time.

In the last scene of the dream I said, "It just isn't fun anymore. It is like we are just bobbers floating on an ocean." It was then that I heard a voice in the dream say, "But remember who controls the ocean." At that instant I was awakened.

A Bobber? How in the world did my slumbering mind come up with that? I am not now, nor have I ever been a fisherman. Sure, when I was little I went fishing a time or two with my grandfather, but I definitely did not take an affinity to it. Besides, we don't normally fish in an ocean either, so why did the voice mention that?

Looking back now, I think that I was being my usual self- worrying about my children and their stability as well as our own personal stresses that life throws at us. Kari has just gone back to college to begin her sixth semester and she is sure to encounter more turmoil and stress. She has certainly had a lot of that during the first five! Keenan has just completed his first full year of "adulthood", having graduated college and found his first full-time stable job. Yet, he has already been in this new "adult world" long enough to have his eyes opened to some of the many issues that adults must deal with. As for me, I still find my time being encroached upon by things like debt and personal obligations. I suppose that I do often feel like a bobber floating away on the surface of the water, just waiting for that time when I can actually grasp back control.

And then there is the voice...... the voice reminding me who it is that controls those waters of life. It is so easy to forget that God is always there. He truly is the one in control. In Isaiah 41:10 it says,

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

That voice in my dream was God speaking to me, reassuring me that I do not need to fear or worry about the storms of life. Yes, we will be tumbled and tossed, yes there are times when we may even feel ourselves being pulled down below the surface, but God can calm those waters and restore our lives to a more stable feeling. He is the one who controls the ocean of life and I just need to remember to seek him out and call upon his name!