Gifts from the Beach – Love Letters in the Sand

We’re finally here after a several year hiatus – at our Island Paradise, our lovely hideaway on the beach. As we experience the hot velvety sand under our feet, turning cooler and moister as we approach the gentle waves, it is as if God whispers, Come away with Me – be still and know that I am God. (Song of Solomon 2:10,13; Psalm 46:10).

His gifts are everywhere, love letters tucked away in secret places, hidden to be found at an unexpected time, waiting for the perfect moment to be read. With the anticipation of hearing from a long-lost love, I tremble as I open each one. 

Faint wisps of clouds swirl through the aqua sky, like ostrich feathers floating on the warm breeze. I don’t know how the Artist’s hand fashioned this design, nor do I know where the wind came from or where it is going, but I feel the Spirit moving (John 3:8).

A pen shell, longer than my hand, fragile yet miraculously unbroken, riding the crest of a sand dune like a shark’s fin cutting through the waves. This is My letter, written to you with My pen in hand, and I want you to write it down for others to read.

My heart flutters as I spot a perfect, full colored, lightning whelk, birthed from the waves and wet with foam. It would be a prize for any collector – the shell as intricately carved as a spiral staircase, displaying the Fibonacci sequence of proportions. The Designer used this signature not only in univalve seashells, but in sunflower heads, pinecones, land snails, and many other places in His creation.

But to my surprise, the shell is still inhabited, the muscular creature inside still pulsating to its own rhythm. Clearly this specimen is not for my desk, but to live out its life. After admiring it, we hurl it back into the churning waves. Each of My creatures is precious and needs saving, He says. 

Protect especially those in My image (Genesis 1:26). The unborn need physical protection (Psalm 139:14-16), the children need nurturing and admonition (Ephesians 6:4); the spiritually dead need to hear about Me (Matthew 28:19-20); and the spiritually reborn need teaching and encouragement in My Word (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 5:19).

A sandpiper scurries toward the waves with the dogged determination of a rick-shah runner, burrows in the sand with his beak, drinks voraciously of the sand crab and coquina broth, then races back toward shore so as not to get his feet wet! And so he runs, to and fro, on and on, not in the least deterred by our presence.

Sometimes you’re like that sandpiper, He says, doing what I have designed you to do in this world that is not your home. You like to stick your head in the sand, but the waves are lapping at your feet. I always provide for you just as I do for him, even though you don’t like it when the world gets too close. And so it should be, for you are in the world yet not of it, and I want you to be separated and holy. (1 Peter 1:15)

If I provide for each and every creature you see flourishing around you, will I not so much more abundantly provide for you? (Matthew 6:25-33; 10:29-31). But like the sandpiper, you are not to sit idly by, but to work diligently for your food and to carry out My purpose for you.( 2 Thessalonians 3:10).

The tide is moving out now, as we see from the lighter bands streaking the sand along the shore as the waves recede. Be still, for I am the One who hung the stars and moon in their place (Psalm 8:3), Who suspended the earth perfectly to create the tides, so that the waves would come only so close to shore and no further. (Job 38:8-11).

A few stones lie close together, perfectly polished by countless years of churning in the surf. One is round with a white cross etched on its black surface, and another is in the shape of a heart.

I love you so much that I sent My Son to die on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for your sins, to reconcile you to Myself (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Will you surrender your heart to Me? Will you take up your cross and follow Him? (Mark 10:21; Luke 9:23).

As we head back to the house I cast a parting glance to the horizon, and I can almost imagine Jesus walking on the water (Matthew 14:25), calming the seas with His Word (Matthew 8:26-27). Two dolphins skim along the waves as a squadron of pelicans patrols the sky, now turning rose and mauve as the fiery sun begins its descent.

Just ahead on the path to the house I spot the last love note for today’s journey – a pearly white, round, gleaming, iridescent jingle shell, reflecting the last rays of the sun. It reminds me of the pearl of great price, like Jesus Christ Himself, like the Kingdom of Heaven, worth relinquishing all earthly treasures to possess it (Matthew 13:45-46).

Thank You, Lord, for these beautiful reminders of Your love, amazing not only because it is infinite but because the Creator of all loves a wretched sinner like me. May we always keep our hearts open to read His love letters on the beach, and wherever and whenever He sends them.

© 2013 Laurie Collett
Reposted from the archives