I recently discovered Pinterest. Yeah, like I needed another online distraction. However, I have found some really fantastic things on there. I've been motivated, inspired, and encouraged by an amazing array of pictures, quotes, and projects. My favorite so far, though, is a painting of the ocean with the quote:
"The cure for anything is salt water.....sweat, tears, or the sea."
I have it saved as the background on my laptop, and it reminds me that suffering is a cleansing process that includes peace and rest. Studies have been made of tears and sweat and it has been published that there are toxins in our sweat and tears. And because our body water is slightly salty in chemical composition, when we sweat and cry, the fluid is salty to the taste. We all know, too that the ocean is salty and that swimming in the ocean is much better on our bodies than swimming in chlorinated and heavily chemical-laden swimming pools - hence the birth of the salt water swimming pool. The calming effects of the ocean have been widely acclaimed and millions of dollars have been made and spent on sound machines to help us land-locked folk reap the stress-relieving benefits of its rhythmic pounding surf.
I personally find my spirit a little restless when I have been away from the ocean for extended periods without vacation time. There is just something that stills my spirit when I sit in soft sand and watch the sun rise or set, with the soothing music of the waves breaking and crashing, then softly rolling up onto the shore. It is a very dynamic illustration of the ever-changing world we live in. Nothing comes to stay. It only comes to pass. The sun rises and sets independent of my feelings and needs. Watching the earth go about its business sitting on a beach, where one part of the earth meets another in a timeless repetition of what God set in motion at Creation, encourages me when my heart is feeling hopeless. I'm reminded that nothing stands still. Waters ebb. Darkness fades. It teaches me how to be wise and watch my step when things threaten to hurt my feet or knock me down, and how to batten down the hatches and ride the storm out. Goodness, I could go on and on with illustrations, but I will stop here. You get the idea. :-)
I am doing a verse by verse study of 1 Peter currently, on a personal journey to understand God's purpose for seasons of suffering. Romans 8:28 teaches me that God doesn't waste my tears. I'm learning in 1 Peter that my tears (and sweat, too!) of suffering refine my faith, and that I should rejoice and be thankful for these sufferings because of the work they allow the Holy Spirit to do within me. Since 2007, I have cried and sweat gallons of salt water over changes and challenges in my son's and my life surviving as a single parent, improving my own health, and throughout my calling to go to nursing school and get my RN. The closer I get to God, the easier I find it is to rejoice and remain joyful and at peace, even in the darkest hours. Its when I am not intentionally and strategically putting myself in His presence through prayer, reading/memorizing God's word, and not having the blessing and encourage of godly fellowship with other believers do I find myself feeling the waves of depression threatening to overtake me again.
The bible tells me that as a believer and disciple of Christ, I am the salt of the earth. So it follows in light of Romans 8:28 (and many other verses of encouragement and exhortation) that the Lord uses tears and sweat during times of prayerful desperation or exaltation to salt the earth for His glory, never my own. What a glorious thing to think on! Let that simmer for a minute. . . .God chooses humanity - ALL of humanity - at Calvary to be His children, not because ALL of humanity FOREVER has done anything to deserve it, but because HE LOVES US. His choice had nothing to do with my choice to surrender myself to Jesus my senior year of high school. God knew at Calvary what a mess I am. How broken I am. How stubborn and prideful I can be. But He loves me anyway, and if I make myself available, will use me as a part of His purpose and plan to draw humanity closer to Him. The fact that I know what a mess I am, and God knows me better than I do, humbles me beyond description when I think about Him using me to encourage and uplift and exhort another. But that's what He does. I have seen it not only in my life, but in others' lives too. Somewhere, at some point, the Lord will bring someone who needs a slice of Victoria's experience in how Jesus led her through something so that they can get through it too. Its not about me telling them what I did, what my efforts or talents managed to do for me, but what my surrender to Jesus did and what Jesus did through me.
Lord, let me not lose my saltiness. Yes, that means my sweat of discipline and tears of suffering may never really stop, only ebb temporarily, but I'm okay with that. Why? Because I've been blessed abundantly with disciples of Christ that shared with me a slice of their salty experiences and that encouraged me and helped me surrender to You, Father. Thank you for seasons of suffering. Thank you for challenges that drive me to my knees, praying in desperation for Your provision. I praise You for the provision You have given me and my little family, showing the world - the lost and the found alike - how powerful and loving You truly are. Lord, whatever Your plan is, wherever that takes us, I offer my life as a living sacrifice to You. I give You all my plans for myself; I lay my expectations of life, my ideas of perfection and success, at Your feet, and nail my self-driven dreams to the Cross. Father, protect my little family during times of persecution for following You. By the blood of Christ, I cover my family from all Satan's attempts to steal, kill, and destroy. I proclaim peace over my family, and intentionally devote my heart to focus on the living hope of abundant life in Christ. I confess my fear, anger, pride, bitterness, and laziness and pray for strength and boldness to fulfill the Great Commission in all areas of my life - my relationships, my health, my finances, and my spiritual disciplines. Lord, I can't do it on my own, but You can through me. I pray for eyes and a heart more like His today than yesterday. In the powerful name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
