What are you thinking?

I was raised in a coastal town in the South of England. As a boy I took the sea for granted. I had the luxury of 6 different beaches within walking distance of my house and would often find myself gazing at the vast sea, watching as it relentlessly served up wave after wave. It was one evening in Cornwall as the sun set over the sea that I took this photo, depicting a man standing in the sea, watching the waves and feeling the regular splash of each one, as it broke over his feet.

In our manic world, where noise and business dominate, such moments are precious. I sometimes find myself craving for the luxury I had as a boy to take myself to a quiet beach and meditate. As a school teacher I see a worrying trend amongst the youth of today, in that they can’t cope with queit and peacefulness. They must have noise, they must have entertainment, they cannot bear to spend any length of time queitly collecting their thoughts together.

God has designed humans with the capacity to think, to meditate and ponder and this faculty is wasted if not directed rightly. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46 v 10). In your mind’s eye, take yourself to a quiet beach at sunset. Be still, stop, clear your mind of the clutter that is modern life, and look at the sight in front of you. Wave after wave, waves as far as the eye can see, to the horizon and beyond. Where do the waves come from?

Gaze at the deep orange sun as it sets on the horizon precisely when it is supposed to, regular as clockwork. Who made it? Who even thought of such a concept as a great and powerful source of heat and light, that sustains life on earth so perfectly, and even controls the tides and waves that are still lapping at your feet?

It is on times like these that we must take the advice of God, “be still and know that I am God”.  This is not a case of weighing up the evidence and assessing the possibility that the natural wonders before you could be from God, if He even exists. No, we are to know that He is God. There is no doubt. The sun, sea and all of the natural world tells us that God exists:

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1 v 20.

So next time you start looking for an excuse not to think about God, be still, look at nature around you, and know that He is God and as such that leaves you with no excuse, not to seek Him for His forgivness.