Personal Photo: This photo is from the beautiful beach of Maui. I am blessed to say that I have spent a number of New Year's Days here. As lovely as it is, you learn to respect the power of the sun and the water. Life is no different. When we respect its challenges, we are better equipped to handle them. When we find ourselves burnt, we can seek relief in God!
I jumped off the boat into the deep blue, the cool water swallowing me up in its refreshing embrace. I went down and down until finally my momentum from the jump wore off and I swam towards the surface to gulp in a deep breath of fresh air. New Year's Day of 2014 will always be one of my favorite days to remember. We were in Hawaii, snorkeling and sailing across the bluest Pacific Ocean, and we were blessed with a full day of dolphins, flying fish, turtles, and so much more wildlife. It was our first time sailing and to say we were hooked would have been an understatement. Every time we went to Hawaii after this, we sailed on the same boat, with the same company, and in the same waters. The magic never wore off, but there was something so special about that first trip.
I choose to remember the actual day, and not the days afterwards, mainly because we were not allowed to use our spray sunscreen on the boat, keeping it from getting slippery to walk on. This would not have been a problem if the intense sun hadn't been on our skin for hours upon hours and we realized much too late that we were in for a powerful sunburn. The days, and even weeks after we returned from our dream vacation turned into ritually applying moisturizer and aloe to our itchy, dry, and irritated skin in search of some sort of relief from the pain. The long hours on airplanes, in airports, and needing sweatshirts and long pants to stay warm in the chilly Ohio January weather made it even harder to find comfort.
We are in the final days of summertime of 2024 and while it is always bitter for me to say goodbye to the warmest months of the year, I find myself looking forward to relief from one of the hottest summers I can remember for years. The heat that came with June was nothing less than suffocating, and July brought with it its own kind of warm and rainy embrace. August actually held some cooler nights that were more than welcome, but we are reminded in this final week of the month that there will still be some scorching weather to finish out the season. There is something about the intensity of summertime that makes relief so much more powerful. I can't help but consider all the times in life that we experience metaphorical sunburn, strong discomfort, and straight up pain.
People, frustrations, responsibilities, fear, and heartaches can all rub us raw, can all create in us a weariness of discomfort where we feel as though we might just snap. We feel as though we are wandering through a desert, seeking for some sort of water to soothe our burning desire to get even, to run away, to break down and cry. The intensity of the scorching heat in our lives can make it impossible to find peace and relief from our ever-increasing sunburn. Sometimes these burns simmer deep within us without us even realizing that we are holding onto our bitterness, sadness, or frustration, feeding the fire that continues to hurt us. Where can we find relief from the burning? How can we begin to heal from the pain? When and where will we find peace from the intensity of life and fear of the unknown? John 14:27 tells us "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." Here we are told the answer to our wandering, the peace from our relentless itching, the healing ointment for the pain of life is found with Jesus. He provides to us a relief that refreshes, cleanses, and heals our souls in a way that the world could never understand. When we apply the gift of His peace, His companionship, His understanding to every part of our day, we find peace from the intensity.
Oftentimes we find ourselves to eager to expose ourselves again after we get a little relief from it all. My mom used to talk about how we need to give ourselves time after a metaphorical sunburn. Exposing ourselves to the cause too soon can only reignite the burn. In this way, we can recognize the same importance of letting the peace of Jesus rest in our souls. To run to Him only when we are burning, and to run away when we get a nugget of peace only hurts ourselves. Psalm 4:8 states "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Resting in the relief of God is just as important as seeking Him for it. Here we are reminded that Jesus not only holds the antidote to our fears, pain, and frustration, but that He will continue to protect us from re-exposure too soon. We can depend on God to soothe us, rely on His peace to give us strength, and count on His promises for everlasting relief from the intensity of the world.
Unlike the aloe that soothes our sunburns and the moisturizer that heals our cracked knuckles, we need God's peace all the time. It is not just a season that we find ourselves struggling with sunburn, but rather we encounter new obstacles in every chapter of our novels. We must remember to seek God in every page, to look for His healing hand working in our lives, and to rest not in the promises of the world, but in the reassurance of God's peace. We see this in Isaiah 54:10, which states "'For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,' says the Lord, who has compassion on you." This verse reminds us that His peace is everlasting, and can soothe some of the worst burns, heal the most broken hearts, calm the strongest fears, and ease the deepest aches. God can provide to us the peace we so desperately need, the relief we need so badly. And this verse also reminds us that God loves us. He does not want us to hurt or suffer, and longs for us to take His outstretched hand for comfort. He promises to provide it to us, every single time.
The things in our lives that rub us raw, irritate our skin, and make us hurt, itch, and suffer allow us the chance to seek refuge in God's gift of salvation through His son, Jesus Christ. Christ will provide the soothing peace that extinguishes even the hottest of flames. When we seek the type of relief only given to us by God, we find ourselves healing, trusting, and loving more like Him. We no longer feel the need to fear, to flee, to fight, or to seek the world for temporary comfort. God will never fail to give us the relief that we so desperately need as we navigate the burning intensity of life. We can seek Him today and find peace in His embrace!
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