I was watching my two children take surf lessons with a group of beginners last week off the coast of Kailua-Kona, in Hawaii. The waves were minimal, but enough to teach one how to stand upright on a board and hold a balance long enough to ride a cresting wave in to shore.
From my perch atop a lava rock on the bank, I noticed how students often struggled to paddle fast enough in front of a wave to dip into the trough and find their position. “Catch the wave,” took on significant meaning to me as I saw them countless times miss a wave and have to start over and wait for another.
“Catch the wave!” It’s a popular and well known maxim full of instructive meaning. I pondered spiritual lessons I could learn from it.
For a surfer, catching a wave is a good thing. It means success, exhilaration, triumph, and a feeling of bound for glory! Missing the wave, especially a good one, is a bummer because it’s an opportunity missed, potential unrealized, a destination not reached, a glory not found.
In life, “waves” to experience God’s goodness come our way all the time. But do we “catch them?”
For instance, a “wave” may take the form of a co-worker feeling down and depressed. It’s an opportunity to extend a word of good cheer, or an act of love to brighten their day. But if we walk by not taking notice and ignore the opportunity, we just missed a wave. We missed the joy that would come to us for expressing love unselfishly.
A “wave” could come in the form of a sick family member. If we fail to pray sufficiently for them because we believe we’re too busy doing other things, or that they should figure it out by themselves, we just missed a wave. We missed the blessing that comes to us when we unselfishly pray for another and see them healed.
The good part about missing a wave is that another follows right behind the one that got by. The waves never stop! And that’s good news for a surfer.
What waves are coming your way today?
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| Surf coach showing them how it’s done |
Thank you for this message, Evan. I’ve never thought about catching the wave in that way and it is really helpful. I will be especially watchful to pray more diligently for my family members and to share love with those who seem to be in need. sas
Thank you so much, Evan, for sharing these very helpful and healing ideas. I’m inspired to put them into practice immediately!
Thanks Evan for the reminder to be more vigilant in order to see opportunities to help others through prayer.PSI