The Energy in Waves

Mike Hosey, An Elder

A human's life ripples like the wind-pushed surface waves of the ocean on any given day, and it cycles like the gravity driven waves of the daily tides. It is never still. High tide. Low tide. A never ending constant push and pull. And that's good, because just like the ocean, the moment your life is without any kind of waves is the moment that life's energy has left you. An ocean wave is simply the transmission of energy through the water of the ocean. That energy ultimately comes from the sun. The sun heats the air, causing wind, which pushes the waves. It heats the water producing currents, which cause waves. The gravity of the sun and the moon pull at the oceans and cause tides, which are waves. Waves are just the medium for all of that energy. The vast majority of an ocean's waves are relatively small, and do little more than gently shape the shoreline, or keep the life and mix of the ocean moving and well balanced. Some waves are large and destructive and come in the midst of storms, but they too serve their purpose of keeping the life of the ocean balanced. Just like the sun heats the ocean and causes waves, God heats the waters of your life and causes waves. Sometimes these waves come in the form of economic difficulty, or death, or disease. One such wave that most people experience periodically through life is depression. 
 
How do we manage this wave? Well one way is to keep the right focus. One of the problems of depression is that it can cause an excessive self-focus. The more we focus on our difficulties, shortcomings, troubles or headaches, the more depressed we get. When we start to focus too much inwardly, we lose sight of important stuff and begin to sink. In fact, waves that are actually of little consequence in the grand scheme of things can morph into tidal size waves in our minds. Remember the story of Peter stepping into the waves the night he saw Jesus walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-30). When Peter stepped out of the boat to meet Jesus, he focused on the wind instead of Jesus and began to sink. When you're depressed, take your focus off of yourself, and place it on Jesus, then use that focus to serve others. The depression won't go away immediately, but it will be harder for it to flourish in your outwardly focused life. Plus, you will be in a place where God can use that wave to change you for the better – and perhaps the people around you.