You have planned a day at the beach. The sun shining and there is not a cloud in the sky. You have your beach chair and umbrella, sunscreen, your favorite book, and a cooler with food and beverage. Once you arrive, you see the beach lined with yellow flags. These flags are part of a standardized warning system used by coastal communities to notify beachgoers of potential water hazards. The most common beach warning flags are green, yellow, or red, indicating low, medium, or high hazard. A double red flag means that the ocean is closed to swimmers, and dark blue or purple flags indicate the presence of dangerous marine life. So, unless you want to star in the next Jaws movie, it is advisable to stay out of the water.

In addition to warning flags, many beach resorts have lifeguards to maintain beach safety and rescue swimmers who are in danger. Even with lifeguards and warning flags to notify you of the potential water hazards, you still need to always be aware of the surf conditions because of the unpredictability of the water and the waves. The tide comes in then in goes out. The water isn’t even up to your knees then all of a sudden it is over your head. One wave gently tosses you around and you are having fun.

But, the next wave, it is a really big one, and the force of the water flips you upside down, pounding you into the ocean floor.  You come up, pulling your bathing suit from places it should not be or readjusting your suit to cover body parts that should not be on public display, wondering why the lifeguard did not warn you of the rough seas.

Life can be the same way. One minute things are calm and peaceful and then without notice a big wave (or two or three or four) comes and turns life upside down. You sometimes lose your breath and find yourself disoriented from all the pounding you are taking. You feel as if you are being pulled further and further from shore with no one to rescue you. While ocean rip currents can be very dangerous if you get caught in one, they are not easily detected from the shore. Life’s rip currents are also sometimes not easily detected, until you find yourself caught in one, quickly being pulled away from the shoreline. 

The Bible tells us that when, from your vantage point, even when you are being turned upside down, seemingly being pulled further away from dry land, that God has things under control and He can calm the waves in your life. Psalm 89:9 tells us this, “You rule over the surging sea; when the waves mount up, you still them.” We see a similar message in Psalm 107:29, “He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.”

Sometimes God calms the waves and other times He calms you in the midst of the waves. Either way, regardless of the color of the flag, you can always trust that God is in the lifeguard chair!   

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Have you ever been doing something, but it did not go as planned? You had a well-planned out strategy for achieving an objective. But somewhere along the line, things began to go sideways, and you needed to come up with an alternative strategy, a Game Plan B.

We are in Week 1 of the college football season. As teams prepare for this week’s game, their coaching staffs have a designed a game plan that focuses on their strengths while exposing their opponent’s weaknesses. But, when the star player goes down with an season-ending injury in the first quarter, adjustments to that plan will need to be made, a Game Plan B, one using a freshman backup.

You have a plan to build a nice retirement nest egg. But as retirement gets closer, you are diagnosed with a medical condition that requires expensive maintenance medication, leaving the nest egg smashed all over the floor. Now you and your spouse must come up with a new retirement strategy, a Game Plan B, one that isn’t quite so pleasant sounding.

You are just a few miles from your vacation destination, that much needed week of rest, and the long trip has been without incident. You can almost feel the sand between your toes and smell the ocean air, when suddenly you encounter a Road Closed sign, causing your blood pressure to rise, and forcing you to quickly come up with a new route, a Game Plan B, one that adds almost an hour onto your trip.

In the first few pages of the Bible, on the surface, it looks like God’s well laid out of creating mankind in His image (Genesis 1:26) goes awry when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden. The truth is God did not have an “Oh crap” moment and suddenly be forced to come up with a Game Plan B. I believe that God was not surprised at all. He had plans to redeem humanity even before He created us. Jesus says this in Matthew 25:34 – “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”

In 1 Peter, we find a similar confirmation that God’s plan, despite an apparent need for a Game Plan B, was not thwarted in the Garden. He was not caught off guard. Here is what we read – “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He (Jesus) was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1:18-21).

God is continuing His original plan of inviting you and I, and our messes, to His banquet table, to feast and to enjoy His presence for ever and ever – “You led me to your banquet room and showered me with love” (Song of Solomon 2:4, CEV).

So, as you see your human plans change, causing you to constantly be coming up with Game Plan B (and sometimes even C, D, and E), you can have the unwavering confidence that God is still working out His Game Plan A, one of redemption and restoration, one of reconciliation, one that has not changed from before the foundation of time!

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Think about the meaningful friendships you have. Maybe right now you think of your spouse, college roommate, neighbor, classmate, teammate, coach, that lifelong friend, or maybe someone else. Now ask yourself; did that relationship happen by accident or did it take work? The phrases “I know him like a brother” or “I know her inside and out” imply that you have spent countless hours cultivating and building the relationship, and today because of that hard work (and yes, real relationships are hard work) you have a real intimacy with that person.

Think of you and that person sitting down over a cup of coffee and having an intimate one to one conversation, talking about more than just today’s weather or last night’s sports scores. You laugh together, you cry together, you lean on each other, you encourage one another, you simply share life together.

You can have that same kind of intimacy with God. In Isaiah 1:18 we read these words from God, inviting the prophet Isaiah to a one-to-one conversation, “Come now, and let us reason together.” (Some translations use different language, so your Bible might read differently.) God listens to those who turn to him with a contrite heart, “If I had ignored my sins, the Lord would not have listened to me. But God has indeed heard me; he has listened to my prayer” (Psalm 66:18-19, GNT). 

Do you regularly talk to God? Do you take time to listen to Him? Is Jesus your always present friend or do you only run to Him when there are no other options? The main way we can have a conversation with God is though prayer. A dialogue between you and God, sharing real life stuff using real life language. Prayer is also quieting yourself and allowing God to “speak” to you as well. He is the best friend that you will ever have.    

The Bible tells us that we need be aware that God is always with us, and we can have a conversation with Him at any time. In one of the shortest verses in the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we read this short and to the point message, “Pray continually.” In addition to those “as needed” prayers, you should also set aside some time each day to pray for your needs, the needs of others, as well as seeking God’s wisdom and direction for not just the life-changing events you sometimes face but also for your daily routine, those day-to-day things.

The more time you spend with Him, talking and listening, the more intimate your relationship with Him becomes. And the more time you spend with God, you not only learn more about God, but you also learn more about yourself. And despite what you might have been told, there is no magic formula or training required for prayer, or even the need for those big theological sounding words.

Prayer is nothing more than having a conversation with God. Just you and God, one to one. In the process of spending time with God, I encourage you to open yourself up to the possibility that God really does have something to say to you! Nobody knows you better than God, nobody loves you more than God, and nobody desires to see you live life to the fullest more than God.

So, take time today to have coffee with God. Or, if you don’t like coffee, substitute your favorite beverage.

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