In scripture it is written that the Father will cast sin into the depths of the ocean, into the place of forgetting. It’s like the forgiveness found in the arms of a lover that has released you from the place where you are obliged to love him and in doing so allows you to love freely. Our wounds, both inflicted and those we did inflict carry a great weight of expectation. We react or act based on what those expectations are and we live in the place of fulfilled or unfulfilled obligations. Obligation isn’t love, and dedication that brings obedience and the dedication of a lover is beyond what we could ask for in the sober realization of the damaged lives we lead.
This week my family and I have accompanied my in-laws at a beach house that is nestled quietly on an obscure piece of beach on the Florida panhandle. As I watch the changing of the tides, the temperature of the water and how it differs from day to day I am amazed at the wondrous beauty. This ecosystem is vast and complex, delicate and severe all at once. Nature is said to reveal the glory of God. I believe that is true, but I believe that we have misunderstood some fundamental truths. God is a God of mercy, peace and grace, but he is not only those things.
I remember speaking with a Pastor friend of mine one morning at Starbucks, he made a simple, but powerful statement, “You cannot have mercy without justice, the minute we forget that truth and begin to apply mercy without first examining the offense and the just punishment it requires we nullify the power mercy has to transform a life.” Wise words from a very wise man and I’m thankful to have heard them. Mercy and justice met on the cross, where Jesus took the full weight of sin on his own shoulders and with the crucifixion took the just punishment, and in doing so released mercy from the Father.
An ecosystem can seem harsh, the death of a creature, the devouring one of another and then another. The severe weather conditions, the magnitude and the vastness of such things is beyond a lifetime of understanding. I am unable to examine or appreciate them all but this I do know, that a profound truth exists in understanding that God works in rhythm, seasons if you will. Though things change, a sin is devoured and taken to the depths of the ocean of forgetting another is allowed to roam freely. We exist in an ecosystem that is imperfect in it’s severity and it’s beauty and only through God's perfect sacrifice can we truly see them all as they are.
Today as I write this I have the ocean before me with little sign of land except for the small mass that curls around to the left of the horizon. Today, as I walk down upon the white sand beaches I will release to my Father some of the things he has been urging me to, but until now I had not possessed the strength. Obligations I feel are more a weight than a willful obedience that exists in the form of loving God back, and in doing so release this great need for acceptance from mankind. I have no illusions about walking away and not being challenged in this choice, but I do believe in the moments of choosing when we erect alters in our hearts, remembered times with the Father where we have a shift of thought or choice. I will receive the mercy he offers, and I will release to him my sins, and with those quiet understandings tucked neatly in my heart I will be thankful.
I have a few quiet days left here, and I hope to immerse myself in them all. I will not be participating in any social media forms from this time on so that I may be in a place of meditation, contemplation and appreciation for this gift. I do pray that as you read these words you are well and blessed. Much love, Apryl.
