The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. (Psalm 29:3, NIV)
I had the opportunity of a lifetime to visit and play the courses at Pebble Beach last month. What an awesome experience. The views were spectacular, and the golf was challenging. All in all, it was a fabulous experience. The best thing about it for me was the ocean. Having been born in the Midwest, I have rarely even seen the ocean. The sound of it rocked me to sleep every night during my time at Pebble Beach.
I couldn’t get the sound out of my mind. You couldn’t really tell what made the sound; the water breaking over the rocks was different than the perpetual sound of the ocean at night. I heard it best when I opened the door of my room. It was all I could hear. I looked out one night and saw the stars and heard the ocean but could not see the water in the dark. I was struck by the similarity of God’s voice and his invisible presence and the sound of the ocean in the dark.
What is more real than the world we see and feel? The invisible world where God is always speaking to us.The sound of the ocean was perpetual, as is the voice of the Lord. Always present, but only heard when the door is open. God is always speaking to us, but we don’t always hear him above the noise of the world around us. He wants to be heard, but we must open the door of our heart and mind to really hear him.
The enormity of God was clearly present in the visual experience of the ocean where water meets sky, and nothing can be seen beyond it. Nothing man has ever created could hold a candle to what God has spoken into existence. For those of us who believe in him, the creation is a visible proof that encourages our faith. Just as I could not see the ocean in the dark, I cannot see God. I can hear the ocean without seeing it and I can hear God without seeing him. That’s just the way he wants it for now.
We experience the visible world with our senses. We experience the invisible world with the faith that God gives us. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). What is more real than the world we see and feel? The invisible world where God is always speaking to us. It is real, and we should seek to experience it through our faith.
As the sound of the ocean comforted me and helped me sleep, the loving voice of God does the same. Hearing God without seeing him is what faith is. One day we will see the face of the one who speaks if we are faithful to listen while we still can’t see.
—
Linda Ballard
December 6, 2018
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.