November 13, 2010

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Caw Caw Caw”. The sound of the sea gulls and the ocean spray was the only sound the little boy could here. He was so excited he was at the beach. The feel of the sun on his back and the temperature of the water felt amazing. He wouldn’t trade this day for anything in the world. His family had come down to Gulf Shores for one last trip before he had to go back to school. “Jake!” he looked up to see his father calling him back to shore. His father was sitting down on the sand and beside him; there was a big bag of stuff. Jake prided himself on how fast he made it back to shore and how good a swimmer he had become in just the last few years. His father smiled up at him and opened his bag. “Jake, I’ve gotten some stuff to make a sand castle with; I think everybody should have to make one at least once in their life”. Jake looked up with excitement, this was great! He was spending an awesome afternoon with his father. “Jake, you always have to start with a bottom. Grownups call this a foundation. If you don’t have a strong foundation it will fall”. Jake thought of this….he wanted to make a HUGE foundation that way his castle would never fall and it would be the biggest and the best of all. His father started digging a hole, smoothing the dirt, and then did something that surprised Jake. His father went and got a bucket of water and poured it on the dirt he had just dug and smoothed over. Now it was a dirty mess and nasty looking. He rolled his eyes, obviously, his father had no clue how to build a beautiful sand castle, or he wouldn’t have made that big mess…..His father looked over at him and smirked, “You think I messed up don’t you? You think nothing beautiful could come from this mess, right?” “Well Dad if you are going to make it big and tall I think you should have kept it dry because now it is mushy and you can’t even get it to do anything.” His dad replied, “Just wait son, you will see, you have to have patience, ok?” Jake decided he could go and build his own sand castle and it would be bigger and better than his dad’s and it would be beautiful and not sticky like that ugly thing his father had started working on….Jake told his dad in so many words…he didn’t need his help and he could do it on his own. After a short while, Jake realized he didn’t have all the right stuff to build his prize castle but he was NOT going to ask his dad for his stuff so used what he had - like his own shoes, his comb, and his sunglasses. Within 30 minutes Jake had finished his masterpiece and looked back at his Dad….He was shocked Dad had started all over again and hadn’t even gotten anywhere. He smirked to himself; see I knew he didn’t know what he was doing. I’ve done it all by myself. “Hey Dad, I’m going back in the water. I did it all by myself.” “Jake, wait you don’t need to go back in the water it is getting dark and it isn’t safe”. WHAT? It is getting dark; his dad was really getting too old. What did dark have to do with swimming? Nothing! He decided and took off running yelling back at his dad that he would be just fine. “JAKE, come back here, it isn’t safe! The current is too strong! Look at the flag!” Jake just smirked and keep swimming out and ignoring his father’s calls. He thought to himself “Yep, I built the sand castle all by myself, I’m swimming in the dark, and I’m doing just fine. My dad is just paranoid. I can take care of myself”. Jake swam for about 15 minutes and just ignored his Dad waving at him to come back, he dove a couple of times, did some back flips under water, and then he saw something. A black fin was slowly coming his way… COOL! A dolphin was coming to see him he loved dolphins. However, the closer the fin came toward him he began to realize that it wasn’t a dolphin. It was a shark. He could see the outline of it as it swam closer towards him. DAD! HELP! Jake froze and realized he was in trouble. Why didn’t he listen to his dad? The shark swam right up to him and then darted out. Just when Jake thought it was gone, he could see it start coming up again, but it wasn’t coming slow this time, it was swimming so fast and right at him. Jake ducked under water in hopes that he wouldn’t be bit but once he was underwater, it was so dark he couldn’t see anything. OWWWWWWWWWW, he felt a sudden intense pain in his side about the time the shark rammed into him. He was bit, the shark had bit him, where was daddy? He just wanted his daddy to take him in his arms be safe. He started sinking down into the ocean, blood from the wound pouring out of his side, and the shark….yeah…he is was coming again straight for him and he was so hurt he couldn’t do anything about it. Suddenly something strong pulled him hard deeper into the ocean. At first, he thought it was his dad but then he realized it was the rip tide. He was in the current and it swept him further and further out to sea. All the sudden he remembered something he had heard a long time ago, if you get in the rip current, swim sideways until you can get back to the beach. With his side hurting and bleeding, he started swimming parallel to the beach. He couldn’t see his dad anymore, he couldn’t see the shark, all he could see was a lighthouse in the distance flashing and blinking toward him. He heard something behind him and looked back to see that black fin swimming straight for him again. He started crying and praying for help. He didn’t want to die in this dark ocean by the deadly thing. The shark came sneakily from behind and started slowly circling round and round Jake. Jake tears clouded his vision and he looked toward the lighthouse, he had almost made it but now he knew there wasn’t a chance of getting there. He was going to die. He hoped his dad would forgive him for not listening to him. The shark started swimming quickly toward Jake again. When the shark was 3 feet from him, something suddenly darted out and rammed the shark in the side. The shark turned again towards Jake but the thing rammed it harder and continued ramming it until the shark swam off. Jake didn’t know what it was that saved him but he hoped it didn’t want to kill him too. Jake started swimming toward the lighthouse again when he felt something swim under him and then he was looking into the black and beady eyes. A dolphin! A dolphin had saved him from the shark and was now right in front of him. Jake reached out and grabbed hold of the dolphin’s fin praying that it would help him get back to his dad. The dolphin took off in the water and swam straight toward shore. The dolphin took Jake as close as it could get to shore, and then Jake let go, petted the dolphin and it swam away. JAKE! JAKE! His dad was yelling his name and then quickly swam over to him. Once his dad was there, Jake wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck and just started crying and saying he was sorry; his dad grabbed him up and carried him back to shore. He laid him down on the shore and then with a flashlight looked at the shark bite. “Jake, it isn’t that bad, but be very still for a minute ok?” Jake felt an intense pressure for a while and then he felt relief. “Dad, what happened? Why don’t I hurt so bad anymore?” “Jake, the shark left a tooth in your side but I’ve gotten it out and you will be ok. It will take awhile to get well but you will be ok”. His dad picked him up and started walking toward their truck when Jake noticed something. “Dad, where is my sand castle? His dad told him that at night, the ocean came up higher on the land and it had washed it away. “What about yours, Dad?” “Jake, I built mine on higher ground and it is still there. But I have a surprise for you, it isn’t mine. I built that sand castle for you and that is why it took so long because I wanted it to be perfect”. Jake started crying and just hugged his dad as they walked down the beach toward home.

THE REAL MEANING OF THE STORY:

SAND CASTLE: We are also the sand castle. God is the potter and we are the clay. We must have a strong foundation of faith, and belief in Jesus Christ and we will withstand the tides of evil that sweep over us when darkness falls. God will shape us and form us. Are you willing to be formed in the Master’s hands? The Water is the blood of Jesus Christ. We need it to cover us and make us pure and clean. We need it to flatten us so there is no room for “self”. God is patient and knows what is best for us – we need to trust God completely! We need God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to smooth us and lead us in our lives. We are nothing without the blood of Jesus Christ covering our sins and lives!

JAKE: I’m sure most of you were thinking during this story, Jake needs his butt whipped and he is a spoiled rotten little kid. Right? Yeah sorry to disappoint you but we sinners are Jake. Many times our Father tells us not to do something and we do it anyway. We may try to do things our ways or with our own “things” to get by but in the end, GOD’s way is always better. When our own strength is gone then we can count on Jesus Christ to strengthen us! If we follow the light, we will know the way! IF Jake had listened to his father, trusted and respected him just think how much different the story would have turned out.

DAD: Our Father, GOD, is watching over us at all times. He warns us of impending danger and yet we don’t listen to him but think we are strong enough or smarter than he is. After we mess up and sin, does he leave us? No. When we repent of our sins, with a TRUE heart of repentiveness, then he welcomes us with open arms and will carry us through our trials. He gives us strength when we would not be able to do it within ourselves.

OCEAN AT DARK: The Devil is the Ocean at Night. He tempts us and causes us to want to rebel and not listen to our Father. Many times we know better than to wander out into different things in the world. We push and tell ourselves we will only go so far and then we will turn back and get back on track with Jesus but then it’s too late we are in trouble.

SHARK: Satan Attacks – Satan is like a shark, he circles us, and then attacks sneakily and quickly. He is the owner of the night and darkness. He a master of disguises, he may look like a dolphin but he is really a mean and deadly shark. We must pray and stay away from sinful things that will place us within Satan’s grasp.

RIP TIDE: The World and Sin. Often times when we are sinning and lying, it doesn’t just stop with one lie or one sin. Sin has a strong drawing effect and will just lead us further away from our Father and our solid ground. We must resist temptation and it will flee from us.

DOLPHIN: We have angels around us that protect us and once we repent, the Holy Spirit is there to lead and guide us to our Father. We just have to admit our sins, ask for and then reach out for help. Remember nothing is impossible with Jesus Christ!

SHARK TOOTH: We will have scars from previous worldly encounters but don’t hide them! Learn from them, and share them with others so they will not be in the same position one day. Encourage and pray for other believers. If we stop acting like perfect people and start admitting our problems and how Jesus helped us through our trials then we might be able to encourage people on a completely different level!

God Bless :)