I've been away. I'll give you a hint about where I've been.. it involves Sand. Shells. Water. Sun. We're at the beach on vacation! This year, we are in Corolla, NC in the Outer Banks. We've been to the Outer Banks every year for the past four years, and I LOVE it. The ocean, as I've said a million times before, reminds me to breathe and to take things at a slower pace.
Yesterday we went down to the beach and collected tons of shells. I kept picking up these lovely black clam shells that were scattered all over the beach. I was thinking how beautiful they would look in an apothecary jar on my bathroom counter. Yesterday, the shells were a lovely deep black. Today, once washed and dried and sand-free, they are a deep gray. Now, that's perfectly fine with me, but it did get me to thinking.
Shells are a lot like people. People are all different-- different shapes and colors, some affected by Red Tide-- or by the difficulties they've come through. Some are whole, but most of us are desperately broken. Some are sharp around the edges- so sharp that we may cut when stepped on- and some of us have been worn smooth with time and tumbling in the waves.
Shells even change color when they aren't in the ocean, or just freshly wet from the water. They become more dull, and sometimes that gorgeous shell that you picked up on the beach becomes not so beautiful once you separate it from it's source. But when the Holy Spirit is present in our lives (represented by the water here, as it is often in Scripture)- what was once just a plain shell suddenly has depth of color. A shell may look bland when dry, but delightfully iridescent in the water. What other people may see is just an ugly little shell, but God knows that once His Spirit is added, our lives will become a stunning display of beauty that brings glory to Him. And fortunately for us, unlike those shells, God knows each one of us, and never overlooks us or loses us in the waves.
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