Lifeguards & Beach Warning Flags
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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