“‘Should you not fear me?’ declares the Lord. ‘Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.'”
Jeremiah 5:22
When I was a little girl, I loved beach camping with my family along the dunes of the Delaware shore. We would huddle around the campfire on the sand and sing:
Brightly beams our Father’s mercies from his lighthouse evermore;
But to us he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights keep burning, send a beam across the waves.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman, you may rescue, you may save.
When the mist began to overtake our campfire, we trekked back to our tent on the other side of the barrier dunes. At the crest of the dune, we could see the Fenwick Island lighthouse and, straight ahead, the red and green channel markers on Indian River Bay. When I asked about the lights in the channel, Daddy explained, “They mark where the water is deep enough for a boat to safely sail. If those lights go out, sailors won’t be able to tell where the sandbar is.” When I asked why they were called lower lights in the hymn, he told me that, “God is the lighthouse and we are his lower lights. We point the way. We show where it’s safe to go. That’s what you do, Joni,” he smiled as we slid down the other side of the big dune.
What way can you “mark a safe channel” for others who are younger in the faith? Don’t be afraid to point the way. Show others where to find the safe harbor. You are the Father’s “lower light”; after all, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before men, that they may…praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14,16).
Keep Your mercies brightly beaming, Father. Thank You for being our safe harbor.
Blessings,
