1 Peter 1:6-7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith...may be proved genuine...

Like you, I can't go anywhere and not see, read or hear about tsunamis. I've even learned how to spell the word! And as much as I'm ready for somehting else to dominate the news and every website on the internet, maybe it's a good thing. In fact, maybe now I'll be able to remember that the tsunami gave me a graphic image that answers the age-old question, "What's God's will for my life?" Let me explain...

While I was surfing, I ran across some great images from the tsunami, but none of them grabbed me like the one that accompanies this Evotion. It is a frame captured from some video footage and it shows a man caught in the crashing wave holding on to a tree. It is a picture of desperation and fear, but it is also a picture of what God's will is for my life and yours. I'll wait while you read that last sentance again, because I'm sure you think you read it wrong. OK. Ready to continue? Scriptures like John 12:24, Luke 20:18 and, well, the whole book of Job are fairly good proof that God's desire for us is that we become totally, 100%, unequivocally dependant upon Him. He wants to be the tree that we cling to in a storm and out of a storm. Have you noticed the people who insprire others to greatness? They are almost always people hwo have sold themselves out to a cause, a sport, a business, etc. They have burned the ships and are not going back. And when we do that with God- according to John 12:24- we position ourselves to see His glory pour through us and into the world.

It's really rather simple. Tsunamis remove and relocate what isn't permanent. They seperate people from things. And God is going to use spiritual tsunamis to work out in our lives faith that is like gold, that is, as our verse this week says, genuine. The good news is that we know God is in control of the tsunamis that come our way to shape us and refine us. He controls the heat and we can trust Him.

What are you waiting for? Go grab a tree.