He Put the Ocean in the Shells

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We’ve all listened. We put our ears to a sea shell so we could hear the ocean. Of course, what we really heard is the resonance of the noise in our immediate environment, but we can truthfully say God made the science of sound, and, yes, He put the ocean in the shells. How did He put something so big into something we can hold in our hands?

This is more awesome to ponder with the imagination of a child.

”Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God
like a little child will never enter it.”

Mark 10:14-15

Let’s engage the wonder of a child when we read this post. Pause a moment. Put on your creative thinking caps, because we are going to take a journey to where we may have never been before or perhaps have forgotten.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

Psalms 19:1-4a

So much about God is declared by His creation without words.

Can we even describe God in words? Is it possible for us to frame His greatness? We read about God in His Word, but even still, there is so much we don’t understand, and can’t understand, as mere men and women.

How are we supposed to respond to a God whom we can’t fully understand?

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 8:3-4

God cares for us. We enjoy the blessings of His love.

But there‘s another side of the story…

In Mark 12:30, Jesus upheld the Old Testament Law when he referenced Deuteronomy 6:4:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

This Old Testament command became part of a traditional prayer for the Jews called the Shema. Jesus confirmed it is also relevant for us New Testament Christians as we consider our response to God’s love. Do we return it with love for Him? Do we offer Him a complete love – of heart and soul and mind and strength. (See also Deuteronomy 6:6-9.)

Jesus reminded us to love God as Lord – to revere Him as the self-existent One who created everything from nothing.

He put the oceans in the shells.

He blessed thousands of empty plates, then distributed them with complete meals.

He transformed the heart of a Christian persecutor named Saul, who became the most accomplished missionary of biblical times.

He is so beyond comprehension that we shouldn’t ask how big God is. No, we should wonder how infinite He is.

…because we can’t put Him in a box.

But we like to understand things. We like to understand God and we leaf through pages of the thesaurus to describe Him, but God is not a vocabulary word. God is ever superlative. Indescribable. We can’t find the words because there are no words. Yet we find ourselves trying to make sense of Him in terms we can understand.

But we can’t understand Him. Not really.

One person can read God’s Word and gain insight, while another can read the same verses and delight in something different. We can even re-read the same verses later and discover something new, something perhaps even the author hadn’t considered. The Bible is infinitely rich because it was inspired by the infinite God.

Let's not confine Him to terms that work for us, or to places only within our comfort zones. He wants to be in every space of our lives – when we wake, when we lie down, in the office, in school, in our social circles, while we work, while we play, while we relax and get refreshed. Let this be the breadth of love we offer God in return for His.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says to carry God’s commands with us everywhere at all times, and to speak of them with our children. It urges us to uphold them for all to see – to establish reminders for ourselves and for others that we are committed to the God of the universe.

God is more than a Sunday morning God. He deserves more than a prayer at meal time. He’s God while we’re at work, God when we're at ball games, and God during our daily commutes.

God put the ocean in the shells.

Do we trust in His promises? Does He reign in our hearts? Is He Lord in our difficulties? Do we let Him influence our relationships and our conversations? Do we invite Him to our parties? Is He the face people notice when they see us?

Our infinite Lord is pleased with our sacrifice – our imperfect, yet sincere sacrifice. We can invite Him into all the spaces of our lives. We have so much to gain when we do: restoration, wisdom, joy, and clarity, for starters (Psalm 19:7-8).

So let this be our prayer:

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14