Rip Tide

Some memories remain vivid no matter how many years pass. They are etched into our minds because, in those moments, life changed in ways we did not fully understand at the time.

One such memory takes me back to an isolated black sand beach in Costa Rica when I was twelve years old. It wasn't the first time I had faced the terror of not being able to breathe and wondering if my life was about to end. It was simply one of many close calls that, years later, reveal an inner strength developed through hardship.

The beach was unlike anything I had ever seen. Dark volcanic sand stretched along the shoreline, and the ocean seemed endless as it met the horizon. On one side of the beach stood a massive rock formation that extended far out into the water like a giant natural jetty. It was both beautiful and imposing, though at the time I paid little attention to it. I was alone with my mom and stepdad at the beach trying to have fun, completely unaware that the ocean beneath me was far more powerful than I could imagine.

As I swam in the water, I gradually noticed that swimming had become more difficult and I was getting further away from the beach. No matter how hard I tried, the shore did not appear to be getting any closer. I didn't know what a rip current was, and I certainly didn't recognize the danger I was in. I only knew that I was becoming increasingly tired and frightened as the water continued to carry me farther from the beach and closer to the rocks.

At first, I tried to swim directly toward shore. When that didn't seem to work, I swam harder. The harder I fought, however, the more exhausted I became. Fear began to rise inside me as I realized I was all alone and no one was going to save me; I had to swim to survive.

The beach was growing more distant, my arms were tiring, and the vastness of the ocean suddenly felt overwhelming. I remember the terrifying feeling of being alone, knowing that no one seemed to notice what was happening.

Then I realized how close I was the gigantic rock formation to my left. That enormous wall of volcanic stone, which had appeared so far away from the beach, was suddenly much nearer than I ever imagined possible. In that instant, I realized just how far I had drifted. The thought of being pushed against those jagged rocks terrified me, and instinctively I began swimming away from them. Rather than heading directly toward shore, I swam sideways, putting distance between myself and the stone wall that seemed to be closing in around me.

What I did not know at the time was that this decision was carrying me out of the rip current.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, the water's grip began to loosen. The struggle was far from over, but I was no longer fighting against the full force of the current. Eventually I was able to angle back toward shore and make my way to the beach. By the time I reached land, I was completely exhausted. I stumbled out of the water, crawled across the black sand, and collapsed near my mother and stepfather.

They never knew how close I had come to drowning.

While I had been fighting for my life in the water, they had been resting on the beach, unaware that anything was wrong. I was too exhausted to explain what had happened and too overwhelmed to put my fear into words. To them, it was simply a day at the beach. To me, it was a fight for life and one of the most terrifying experiences of my childhood.

As I reflect on that day now, I see it through very different eyes. At twelve years old, I did not know Jesus Christ. I was not praying for help, nor was I seeking God. Yet even though I did not know Him, He knew me.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

                                                                                      Romans 8:28

Looking back across my life, I can see countless moments when I was protected from dangers, I did not fully recognize at the time. There were circumstances that could have ended very differently, situations from which I was delivered, and seasons when grace carried me farther than my own strength ever could.

For many years, I might have called those moments coincidence or luck. Today, I see them

as evidence of God's Faithfulness. He was watching over me long before I understood His Love. He was guiding my steps long before I recognized His Hand. Even during seasons when I wandered far from Him, He never abandoned me.

The older I become, the more amazed I am by the ways God has preserved my life and worked through both the Joys and the Hardships of my Journey. That frightened little girl struggling in the waters off the coast of Costa Rica had no idea what lay ahead. She could not have known the trials she would face, the lessons she would learn, or the relationship with Christ that would one day transform her life. Yet God knew. He had a purpose then, just as He has a purpose now.

When I think about that day, I am reminded that some of God's greatest acts of protection occur long before we recognize His presence. Sometimes we only understand years later that He was there all along, guiding us through dangers we could not see and carrying us through storms we could not survive on our own.

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