Undertow!

When you are in over your head, I will be with you. When you are in rough waters, you will not go down. Isaiah 43: 2-3

The one place on earth that gives my soul and heart peace is at the beach. My family grew up going to the Gulf coast in Florida, and when I go there, it always feels like coming home.

The ocean there is a beautiful green color, and in the mornings, the waves are normally calm and rolling. Even though the afternoons can bring rough waters, this is the time for riding the waves.

Our mother loved it there, but the one thing that unnerved her was the undertow which could be present on any given day. Undertow is defined as a subsurface current that typically is moving away from shore and occurs under breaking waves. It’s a natural phenomenon where water pushed onto shore by waves flows back out to sea normally beneath the incoming waves. Even though it can be dangerous, it is usally quite manageable if you know what to expect.

Contrast this scenario with the undertow on the western side of Mexico. We had never been there, and even though we were told not to swim in the ocean, Randy and I decided it didn’t look too rough especially for experts!

We waded into the ocean as we always do, and we were immediately knocked off our feet with a current that was so strong it was all I could do to recover from it! That’s when I learned that a riptide is much different than an undertow. A riptide is a powerful surface current that moves directly perpendicular to shore, and one has no idea has strong the current is until you are caught in it! Later we learned that two swimmers had been rescued and recussitated earlier in the same day.

Undertows and riptides are perfect examples of things that happen in life which take us totally by surprise and then leave us, metaphorically,fighting to get back to shore! We don’t know what new experiences, new needs, or changes will come our way in this life. It is full of highs and lows, smooth sailing, or rough waters, and undertows or riptides.

If life were always like calm waters, the boring sameness of it would weigh us down. We need the undertows to invigorate us and make us strong enough to face whatever is coming our way. There’s a certain amount of satisfaction in meeting a challenge and living through it.

The undertows in life might take us downfor a bit, but with God’s grace we can see the undertow as the force that drives us to the throne of His grace and brings the showers of blessings that will follow.

Just like a current, that we can’t see coming, we can’t see what sorrow, loss, or trials are in store for us. We only know that when we trust God to get us through it, the Father comes next to us and leads us to the shore.

When Randy and I emerged from our undertow, we noticed a couple sitting on the beach calmly watching us fight the waves. When we walked up on the shore, the lady said, “Well, thank heavens you made it. I thougt we might have to get our feet wet and try to save you!”

Many of us are sitting on the shore because we are afraid to get into the water. God’s undertows are gracious experiences to help us deal with whatever comes our way.

God leads us on by paths we do not know; He leads us on through all the unquiet years; Past all our dreamland hopes, doubts, and fears. He guides our steps through all the tangled maze, Of losses, sorrows, and clouded days. We know His will is done; And still He leads us on. Nicholaus Zinzendorf