Biggest Fish in the Sea

 The shadows of night had stolen upon the valley chasing away the last rays of light.  Heavy clouds rolled in cloaking the stars and bringing a damp chill that soaked through to my bones.  Eerie noises rose from the darkness as fear's icy fingers crept up my spine and begin to encircle my throat.  This promised to be a long lonely night.

Which one of us has not experienced such a night?  I think it safe to say that all of us can identify with this kind of darkness and fear both in our physical lives as well as our spiritual and emotional ones.  

I have spent much of my life running from experiences like this while seeking light and warmth where ever there is a faint, though fleeting promise, that it might be found and embraced.   It makes perfect sense does it not, to prefer light to darkness and warmth to cold?  Or, perhaps I have been viewing it all wrong.  Surely the night will always come for without it there is no sunrise. 

It is in darkness that we are to rest, not run.  For if we run in darkness we are certain to trip and fall and if we fail to rest at night the day holds little joy.   But, how can one rest without fear when it's dark?  With the threat of unknown dangers lurking in the shadows?

One of my favorite places on earth is the aquarium in Atlanta, GA.  If you ever get the opportunity to go there, take it.  It is the world's largest aquarium and has as it's main attraction a 6.3 million gallon tank housing four whale sharks (which are confirmed to span over forty feet as adults and thought to grow beyond sixty feet) and several other species of dangerous sharks along with thousands of other beautiful fish and ocean depth wonders.  As I stood beneath this amazing tank and looked up at the huge dark shadows soaring above me the thing that struck me the most were the seemingly brave or foolish  fish surrounding the whale sharks gaping mouth.  Why on earth were these little fish hanging out so close to that mammoth. At first glance it seemed like suicide.  Then I realized that the whale sharks, though huge, are not predators.  They eat the tiny microscopic organisms in the water working like massive filters straining the water through their mouths.  It finally dawned on me that the little fish were quite intelligent to swim with the whale shark.  It was as if they had a great big brother to navigate the play ground with them.  The other sharks kept their distance from the big guys and the little fish swam in safety through waters infested with the jaws of death.   

That is how it is with God.  He is, as it were, the biggest fish in the ocean.  Nothing can touch Him.  If we are swimming close in His shadow we are safe even in the deepest darkest most dangerous waters.  God leads us through the dark valleys and He allows the cold dark nights to come upon us.  Perhaps He wants us learn we can trust Him enough to rest in the dark.  To have confidence that He will bring us safely through the night to experience the joy of the sunrise.  

I want to stop running away from the dark nights and embrace them instead, viewing them as opportunities to grow in Christ and to renew spiritually.   I pray that God will help me learn to rest in His arms until the morning dawns and I can once again see my way clearly to navigate life's pathway.

Bonnie Morsette - 9/17/11