Beach-Worthy Faith

With the official start of summer less than a week away, many people will be heading to the beach for the long holiday weekend. In addition to sunscreen, hat, beach chairs, extra fluffy towels, cooler filled with beverages and snacks, and reading material, one more piece of beach-gear is needed. A beach umbrella.

 Over the years we have learned a great deal about beach umbrellas. They need four things to do and be what they are intended for – keep you shaded from the hot sun and protected from the ultraviolet rays. First, the umbrella itself should be at least 6-1/2 feet in diameter to give you adequate space underneath it. Second, it needs a roof vent for stability; to keep the umbrella from turning inside out in gusty conditions. Third, the pole should be at least 1-1/4 inches in diameter and be made of sturdy aluminum. This will help it not to bend in those gusty winds.

And lastly, maybe most importantly, you need a solid anchor that screws into the sand to keep your umbrella securely fastened in the ground. Having an umbrella that is properly anchored into the sand allows it to do what it is intended to do. No matter how big or how pretty your umbrella is, it is of little value if you are constantly chasing it down the beach.  

If you have those four things, your umbrella will keep you protected. It is strong. It is beach-worthy.  

Not having a beach umbrella at all might be fine on certain days, but when the sun is its hottest or your skin begins to turn lobster red, even the smallest of umbrellas would have been a good idea. Even an umbrella not meeting my four beach-worthy criteria is better than no umbrella at all. Any is better than none.    

I see faith having a correlation to beach umbrellas. Not having faith in Jesus might be fine when everything is perfect, but when the heat is on or life beats down on you, let me speak to you from experience, faith is needed. Any faith at all. Faith properly anchored. Faith that isn’t constantly blowing down the beach.  

Having a strong faith does not necessarily mean big faith. It sometimes only requires faith as small as a mustard seed, then allowing those small things God has planted in our lives to become significant works of the Spirit. In Matthew 17, when the disciples could not cast out a demon, they asked Jesus why they could not do so. Click here to read the interaction between Jesus and his disciples. While most modern translations do use “little faith” to describe the faith of the disciples in this context, what Jesus was rebuking them for was at that moment their faith had been tested and it came up short. In other words – unbelief.

And having this strong faith, anchored in Jesus, a spiritual fullness in Jesus, is just what we read in Colossians 2:6-7 – “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” 

Is your faith beach-worthy or will it blow away at the first hint of breeze? Does your faith protect you from the harmful elements or does it just look pretty? Even small faith, as small as a mustard seed, will be of great value.

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