I Never Saw Dolphins

      

     "Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen."  (Hebrews 11:1 NASB)

      Like many young girls, I loved dolphins long ago. Perhaps it was the original television show "Flipper" that initiated my love affair, but somehow it never ended. I remember the thrill of watching for them on family vacations to the beach, and even going to "Marineland" in Florida and seeing them up close. As a young family, we took the obligatory trip to Disney World and Sea World, and I was as elated to touch their rubbery skin as my 3-year-old son.

      But none of those compared to my later-in-life opportunity to spend a week on a large catamaran floating in the shallow waters off the Bahamas, encountering Atlantic spotted dolphins in their natural habitat. I can't begin to describe the feeling of donning my snorkel and fins and diving into the warm turquoise waters, learning to "think" and swim like a dolphin. We were instructed never to reach out and touch them, simply to swim along with them and allow them to approach us. Even now my eyes fill with tears when I remember that magical moment when one huge zeppelin-shaped blue body swam up alongside me and we were, for a few moments, eye to eye. When I emerged from the water and climbed back onto the boat, I simply wrapped myself in a towel, went to a secluded corner, and wept. 

      Last February I spent a month at the beach trying a new therapy for my ME/CFS. Nearly every day I saw dolphins play in the surf, and I looked to them as a sign of hope and encouragement. I was rarely disappointed and frequently delighted at their joyous antics. Sometimes I felt as though they were sent there just for me. (Silly, I know, or maybe not!) I was back at the same beach last week, and of course scanned the ever-changing ocean many times every day for the familiar gleam of a sleek hump or spray from a playful leap. But they never came. Was I disappointed? Maybe a little. Did I ever doubt that they were there? Never, because I had experienced them! I kept looking expectantly until the moment I had to leave my room to head home.

      Look again at the passage above. How like my history with dolphins throughout my life is our experience with God. When our faith is new, it is based on what we learn from others and the Bible, pictures of Him and His work on earth through the ages. We may even "touch" Him in the innocence of children-- in a parent's love, in a Sunday School or Vacation Bible School teacher's care. But when we encounter Him face-to-face, intervening in our lives in ways we could never have imagined, then we KNOW He is there. We have more than hope, we have faith to carry us through the darkest nights, the deepest valleys, the days when we can't really see Him, yet we know for a certainty He is there. We can, with the Psalmist, "Be still and know that [He is] God; [He] will be exalted among the nations, [He] will be exalted in the earth."  [Psalm 46:10 NIV)

      Our hopes may not be realized until we "walk out the door" of our earthly body, but if we have faith, then we can be sure all will be well when we meet Him face to face. In fact, 

      "Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory."  [Romans 5:2 NLT]

       Finally, dear reader, this is my prayer for you:

      "May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fulness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, Who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."  [Ephesians 3:19-20 NLT]

 "He must increase, but I must decrease"  (John 3:30)

♱