As I was talking to my new friend Rusty on the beach last week, I glanced over my shoulder to see his wife under their canopy digging in the sand. I could see she was digging a hole and then quickly covering it. She then took the little plastic shovel she held and traced an “X” in the freshly turned over sand. Rusty must have seen me looking so he took a step back under the canopy and extended his arm toward his wife. She put something in his hand. He held up a gold coin and told Amy and me that his wife was burying treasure for their grandchildren. The treasure coins were chosen from a pile of prizes that were meant to be given to the children earlier in the week. I think the hustle and bustle of the week led to the last-minute dispersion of prizes and treasure hunting. We went back to talking and the next second we looked over at the canopy, there were little feet running and kicking up sand, shovels waving in the air, and accomplished smiling faces zipping back and forth. The treasure field once marked with evenly spread out “X”s now looked like a road in an old western movie – all churned up and well-traveled. It happened in a flash. As a matter of fact, Rusty turned and seeing the “X”s were gone said, “Oh goodness…that was fast…I missed the whole thing.”
Rusty and his family were our neighbors last week on Edisto Island. We stayed in a tiny cottage behind the house they rented. We shared a walkway that lead out to the beach. One early morning, as I sat alone on the beach doing my bible study, Rusty came out and walked over to me. We started talking and shortly thereafter, I felt like I was talking to my best friend. We talked about family, fatherhood, business, and church. We talked about having preemie children (his daughter was a preemie like our twins). We talked about faith and we talked about what this pandemic has meant to us. To me the words “stop striving” and “rest in Christ” keep coming to me. To him the words “be still” have been with him.“ I’ll let you get back to your studying,” Rusty said. He walked away about ten yards and then turned around and walked back to me. He began to tell me a story and my heart jumped with joy. I had experienced the SAME thing he was telling me about himself. A few years ago, Rusty was at the beach. He and his family were ready to walk out on the beach for the day. Rusty got a call in that moment that landed him back inside and on the phone dealing with a business situation for hours. He told me he was so frustrated. He was supposed to be on vacation enjoying family time and now he was inside and away from them. He told me he finished the phone call and walked outside toward the ocean, only to meet his family coming back in from the beach. Rusty told me he was so sad and dejected. He said he went on to walk on the beach and as he grumbled with his feet in the water, he looked down and saw “the most beautiful shell”. And in his spirit he heard – “I made this shell and all you see out here…and you think I can’t take care of you?” He then told me to look up Jeremiah 32:17. He said that scripture is what he held close to his heart after this happened.
“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” ~Jeremiah 32:17
I then told Rusty my story which happened just a few months ago. The weekend before the virus hit and two weeks before my gym was shutdown, our family came to Edisto to celebrate Amy’s birthday. We had a great time, but I had an unexplainable uneasiness in my heart. I can say I just did not feel right. I had a feeling something was going to happen, so I guess that would be anxiety? One morning we were walking on the beach looking for sharks teeth and I ended up by myself. The waves crashed at my ankles and as the water retreated back toward the deeper ocean, the sun reflected brightly on the wet sand. Squinting my eyes, I could see a shiny black rock(I call it a rock but it’s actually a piece of black bone). It stood out from every other shell in the rippled sand. I picked it up and looked at how ruggedly beautiful it was and then I heard in my soul – “I’m going to take care of you.” I walked a few steps and I heard again, “I’m going to take care of you.” I heard this five more times during the time we were on the beach. I began to smile, but at the same time I thought “what is going to happen to me that I need such a reminder?” Little did I know my business and the world would be turned upside down only a few days later. I would soon be playing those words – “I’m going to take care of you” – over and over in my head many days ahead. Isaiah 41:10 is scripture I grasped and still strongly hold close to my heart to this day.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” ~ Isaiah 41:10
After I told Rusty my story, we went our separate ways for the day. It was not an accident that Rusty and his family were our neighbors for the week at the beach. As a matter of fact, I prayed for it. Our houses were very close to each other. We arrived before they arrived and seeing how close the houses were, I immediately began praying that we would have good neighbors. I prayed for divine appointments and for quietness as we needed our cups to be refilled from all the stress we had been under for so many weeks. God is good. My family was blessed and poured into during the week by seeing a grandfather throwing the football with his grandchildren, a family swimming together and playing together, children loving their father, husbands loving their wives, a brother and sister getting to spend time together and time with their parents, and cousins spending time together. I hope we blessed them in some way. I pray for them every day. I rest confidently knowing that we amazed them with our incredible packing ability. We had kayaks, bikes, fishing poles, and boogie boards coming out of everywhere. Rusty would come over a few times that week, look – put his hand on his chin, and say, “I stiiiilllll…can’t get over how you got all this stuff here.” Anyway, it was not an accident. And it is the reason you are reading these words right now.
Now…why do I tell you all of that? Let me try to tie it all together. Going back to treasure – what is the most valuable treasure for Christ followers? It is our relationship with God right? His presence is our treasure. And I believe sometimes in life we fail to see the “X” marking the spot of our most valuable treasure. And I believe, just like Rusty missed the little ones finding the gold coins, we miss moments when our loved ones or others find the treasure in moments of God’s presence. Why? How? It is because we are hurrying around. We are striving. We are earning and deserving. We are trying and trying. We are distracted. We are stressing. We are anxious. Alllllll of life is coming at us…hitting us from eeevvvveeery direction…alllll at once…and we lose track of God along the way. Our stress and anxiety about a problem – becomes THE problem. Anxiety pushes away our time with God and chokes out His word we are to cherish as a guide in our lives. Our busyness and stress become the biggest obstacle to seeking and experiencing God’s design for our lives. We are Christ followers. We worship and praise the God of peace. But…what does it say to the world when we do and say these things, yet we live fumbling, bumbling, stressed, and anxious lives? We ARE NEVER called to be anxious! So…what do we do about it? BE STILL. The words that have been with Rusty – BE STILL. Oh, and STOP STRIVING – REST IN CHRIST – the words that have been with me. That is what we do.
Jeremiah Burroughs puts it beautifully in “The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment”:
“If you want a vessel to take in any liquor, you must hold it still for if the vessel stirs and shakes up and down, you cannot pour in anything, but you will say, ‘Hold still’, that you may pour it in and not lose any. So if we would be vessels to receive God’s mercy, and would have the Lord pour his mercy into us, we must have quiet, still hearts. We must not have hearts hurrying up and down in trouble, discontent and vexing, but still and quiet hearts, if we receive mercy from the Lord.”
Burroughs goes on to talk about a crying and whiny child. When a crying and fit throwing child comes to you wanting something, what do you do? You make them calm down right? Even if it is something you desire to give them anyway, you make them calm down and be quiet before giving it to them. Why? Because it honors you as a parent that they come to you in a calm and quiet way. Burroughs says that is what it is like when we seek God. It honors God when we come to Him in a posture of stillness.
We miss so much because we are not still. We walk through our days reacting to everything happening around us. We’re so busy reacting to life that we do not pray and we do not allow space in our schedules to spend with God. We do not rest in the finished work of Christ. The good news is – it is not too late! Even better news is – God pursues us! He loves us and never leaves us! When you do not see the treasure, He will show you glimpses of heaven. When you are stressed or blind with busyness, He will show you glances of the most amazing treasure. Yes – He loves us THAT much! Do you know what my moment with the bone in the surf and Rusty’s moment with the beautiful shell are? Do you know what those similar moments shared between men 15 years apart in age are? Do you know what those moments that happened years apart to a grandfather and a father on the same beach are? They are “X”s. They are “X”s God WOULD NOT let us miss! Those moments opened our eyes to the most valuable treasure we could possibly see in this lifetime – His Presence. I picked up a black piece of bone and Rusty picked up the most beautiful shell…and we SAW God’s love. I picked up a bone and Rusty picked up a shell and we were given the beautiful reminder that God meets you EXACTLY where you are. Rusty and I looked at what we held in our hands and EXPERIENCED the truth that God will ALWAYS meet you – especially when you feel helpless. Pray and calm the vessel. Let Him pour into you. Be still and embrace His Presence. Rest in the finished work of Christ and feel His arm around you as you step into what He has for you. Quiet your heart and feel His strength. When it feels too heavy for you, know it is NOT heavy to Him. Calm your soul and celebrate His love. When it feels too hard, know He loves you enough to do something about it. The “X’s are here my friends! God bless you in your treasure hunting!
I love you all!
“I made all of this out of nothing.
Trust me, I can take care of you…”
~ God
