Living by the Sea: Part 1 – Seaing is Believing: the Tides of Belief
By Monica Monir
Have you ever wanted to live by the sea?
I have, for my entire life. In fact, I still remember my first trip to Cronulla beach at the ripe old age of four (it was love at first sight, no big deal). My motto quickly became “If there’s H2O, then it’s time to go!”
Maybe some of you already live by the sea (um, sick invite). Or at least, you think you do…
What if I told you living by the sea wasn’t about your postcode? What if I told you living by the sea simply meant living out your belief in everyday life? Hear me out for a second…
We all go through cycles in our belief, in the same way the tide rises and falls, and when they said you have to “sea” to believe they weren’t kidding…
Seek
Encounter
Adjust
This is the cycle of belief. We seek Him, we encounter Him and we adjust our ways…we seek Him, we encounter Him and we adjust our ways. SEAing is believing. Over the next few posts in this series we’ll dive deep into how to apply each of these three letters into our lives, but for now, what does seaing even look like?
Seaing is the woman who sought the healing of her demon-possessed child (Mt 15:27), it’s the bleeding woman who touched the border of Jesus’ garment in faith (Lk 8:43), it’s when Mary kissed Jesus’ feet and washed them with her tears (Lk 7:37) and it’s the healing of the paralytic man at Capernaum because his friends lowered him through the roof in faith, knowing that they must get to Jesus (Lk 5:19). All of these people lived by the sea because they not only sought after Jesus, but they let Him change their lives.
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.” – Luke 5:24-25 (emphasis added) The man sought Jesus, he encountered Him and he adjusted his ways, glorifying God as he went home.
And in the words of St. Augustine of Hippo, “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.”
Well that’s all well and good in theory, but does this all still apply today? 100% yes. Nick Vujicic is an Aussie born with no arms and no legs. During childhood he attempted to take his own life, it’s the darkest place anyone could end up. Today he shares the message of Christianity on a global scale, saying, “Adjustments are necessary along the way because life isn’t always rosy, but it is always worth living.”
Whatever the problem, whatever the cause, the solution is the same. We seek Him, we encounter Him and we adjust our ways…we live by the sea.
So how do we live by the sea? Well there are a number of ways, most of which will be discussed in upcoming posts, so stay tuned! But for now just know that we seek Him in prayer, we encounter Him in the Bible and during the Liturgy and we adjust our ways by being humble enough to hear His quiet voice amidst the screams of tribulation.
Life has its twists and turns and the forecast doesn’t always tell us what we want to hear. We can get caught up in a swell and pretty soon our life seems shipwrecked as we wash up on the shore cold, isolated and lonely. We’ve all been there, we’ve all felt beaten down by the storm at sea. It’s in these moments we must remember that seaing is believing, and continue to live by the sea (seek, encounter, adjust). Because let me ask you this, if seaing wasn’t believing, then why does the deceiver always send a storm to capsize us?
“And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”
Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?”” – Luke 8:24-25
Don’t be deceived, continue to believe.
So, do you live by the sea?