As you are reading this devotional this morning, Robbi and I are making our way back to Illinois after a stop at her mom’s house in Ohio.  Some of you might know that our son lives in Virginia and our oldest granddaughter was supposed to graduate from 8th grade this past week.  We had planned to go out to be a part of that and to also celebrate a few birthdays at the same time, but when the Covid-19 pandemic hit all plans changed.  Our son asked us to still come out if we were comfortable with doing so, and then he informed us that he had rented a house in the Outer Banks for the week and would like us to join them.  It has been a great week of relaxation and being with our kids who we have not seen since Thanksgiving.  The beach has been beautiful but being with the kids is awesome.  Robbi and I are not used to this Eastern time zone stuff and we are finding out that our day typically ends before theirs. 

While here I have been able to spend a lot of time at the beach as the house that we are staying in is right on the beach.  I was talking to my granddaughter one day and the topic of the number of grains of sand in my hand came up.  How could we possibly count them?  How many were there in the beach that we were sitting on?  Mind boggling!!!  David mentions them in Psalm 139 when He speaks of God’s thoughts towards us.  He writes:  “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand…” (vv.17-18)  God thinks about you!  God thinks about me too!  Does that scare you or concern you?  The reality that God should think about us at all should be our treasure and pleasure.  And not only does He think about us, the sum of His thoughts is beyond our understanding and comprehension.  The Bible tells us that His thoughts outnumber the sands of the sea.  That would imply that someone knows the number of the sands of the sea, and being God inspired David to write this passage, it has to be Him.  God’s thoughts outnumber the sands of the sea.  The next time you go out the sandbox in the backyard, or if you should find yourself at the seashore think on that for a little bit. 

What do you suppose God’s thoughts are?  What are the thoughts of our Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Father, Friend, and the One who loves us?  Thoughts of our pardon, our growth, our care,  His supplying, His educating, our sanctification, as well as our daily activities.  It should fill you with awe and wonder that the God who knows your every need has you on His mind day and night.  We are in a pretty good place, don’t you think?

Another passage that came to mind is found in Psalm 104:25 “There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number – living things both large and small.”  We experienced that this week.  My grandchildren introduced me to sand fleas which are these cute little bugs that burrow into the sand really fast.  They are cute until one of them gets angry and bites you.  We met up with countless ghost crabs and even saw a manta ray.   One of the coolest things was every morning we would go out into the ocean on a sandbar and two sets of dolphins were there to greet us every morning.  Every once in a while one of us would softly sing two notes “du dunt” and we would hear screams of “don’t do that!”  (“du dunt” is from Jaws).  In the evening as the full moon reflected off of the waters there was an intense mystery as to what lurked in the waters below.  To think that God knows everything that is going on under the waters too is mind-blowing.  Psalm 146:6 “He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – the Lord, Who remains faithful forever.”   I would have to think that the activities of the sea would have to keep God pretty busy, and yet He knows us too and He remains faithful forever.  Man our God is HUGE!!!

Something else that was very interesting to me is the never ending waves that come to the ocean shoreline.  Night and day it never stops.  How does that happen?  Why does it happen?  I’m sure that some of you can give me a pretty good scientific or geological explanation, but never ending?  Who put it there?  I like to believe that it is the hand of God that stirs up the waves.  Psalm 89:9 “You rule over the surging sea..”  and Isaiah 51:15 “For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar – the Lord Almighty is His name.”  That sounds like a pretty good explanation to me.  I could not help but think of the story about Jesus and His disciples on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.  I have been to the Sea of Galilee and it is no where near as big as the Atlantic Ocean, but I was also on the Sea of Galilee when a sudden storm came up.  There is a valley that leads into the sea where the winds can be ferocious and storms come out of no where.  In Matthew 8 we are told about one of those storms.  Jesus is asleep in the boat when a storm hits and the waves are coming over the sides of the boat.  It was so bad that the disciples, many of whom were fishermen, were so concerned that they were afraid that they were going to drown.  That’s a bad storm, and Jesus is sleeping.  Think about that.  Was it His creation rocking Him to sleep?  Why wasn’t He afraid?  Because as we read in v.27 “Even the winds and the waves obey Him!”    Is it any wonder that we marvel at the sight of the ocean thinking about and knowing that God is sovereign over all of it?  Nothing is out of His sight!

It has been a great week at the beach with our children and grandchildren.  We will go our separate ways, each of us with our memories.  As we go our separate ways, what a comfort it is to know that God goes with us and before us knowing what today and tomorrow brings.  I am on His mind.  My wife is on His mind.  Our kids and grandchildren are on His mind.  You are on His mind.  Like the Psalmist says “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand…”  Another thing that I have learned is how really small and seemingly insignificant I really am, and yet God knows me, loves me, and cares for me.  I can relate so much better to what David writes in the Psalms.  I have to wonder if he might have been sitting on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea when he wrote some of these things.  Psalm 8:3-4 “When I consider your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?”  Last night I sat on the dock while my son, daughter and grandkids walked the beach.  The moon was full and bright, the ocean waves repeatedly crashed to the shore, and I was overwhelmed with the truth that God was right there and He knows all of us.  I was awestruck with His power and majesty and “bigness”, and yet warmed by the fact that He knows me!

There are a lot of important things going on in our world and around us.  Things that consume many people and seem so important until you really think about them and take inventory.  As you know I like to read some of Max Lucado’s writings.  He seems to be able to give perspective on life through the grid of Scripture.  This past week he encouraged us to take a quiz and I want to encourage you to do the same.  Check it out:

Name the ten wealthiest men in the world.
Name the last ten Heisman trophy winners.
Name the last ten winners of the Miss America contest.
Name eight people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
How about the last ten Academy Award winners for best picture or the last decade’s worth of World Series winners?

Think of three people you enjoy spending time with.
Name ten people who have taught you something worthwhile.
Name five friends who have helped you in a difficult time.
List a few teachers who have aided your journey through school.
Name half-a-dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier? It was for me, too. The lesson?  Take note of the people that God has put around you;  take note of all that He has done for you; take note of His handiwork and ask the question what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?”  You don’t need to go to the beach to do this.  Walk outside into your backyard, look into the eyes of your children and grandchildren and contemplate the awesomeness and goodness of God.