Trust in the waves

By Tyler Tankersley

My family recently took a trip to Destin, Florida, for some vacation time. My sons and I built multiple sand castles, we enjoyed walking along the beach, and we searched for wandering hermit crabs. My eldest son Henry took to the water like a fish; we could hardly keep him from swimming out to sea and sprouting gills. However, my younger son Owen (who tends to be the more rambunctious of the two) was surprisingly hesitant, cautious, and afraid of the water.

You could tell that Owen desperately wanted to be in the water; he longingly stared at the waves. When we would later swim in the condo pool to rid ourselves of excess sand, Owen would sit on the stairs and watch us swim. We would try to encourage Owen to join us in the water, but he would just hold on tighter to the stair railing.

On our second day at the beach I was watching Owen sitting on the shore as he stared at Henry and I frolicking in the waves. In a move of brazen paternal impulse, I ran over, scooped Owen up in my arms, and began to walk into the waves. Owen immediately had a look of panic on his face; I could tell that he legitimately felt that he was in danger. However, I kept my arms tightly wrapped around his little body. I only went as far out as waist-deep in the water. Then I lowered myself onto my knees and grabbed Owen tightly. I whispered in his ear, "I got you, buddy. I got you, buddy." At first he continued to protest, but then a change in Owen occurred. He still held on to my neck, but his face relaxed and a wide smile spread across his face. At the next big wave, Owen eventually said, "Let's get it, Dada!" As long as his Dada held him tight, Owen was no longer afraid and even enjoyed something he had previously feared.

In Psalm 124, the people of Israel look back on their story. At one point they declare, "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters" (Psalm 124:4-5). The psalmist has realized, looking back, that in the midst of the chaos, wild, and waste of the world, the people of God were never truly alone.

I wonder how we would live differently if we fervently believed that our Heavenly Father was with us even in the midst of the waves of change, disruptions, and confusions that life can offer. I wonder if we might live with more grace, more lightness, more peace of heart and mind. I wonder how we would live differently if we were to let go of the railing of certainty to which we often cling to tight-fistedly and throw our arms, our hearts, our lives around the neck of our Father. I wonder