Lake Superior defines my life.
It’s the reason our town is so long, hugging the shoreline for four winding miles.
It’s the reason driving to the next town takes so long. We can’t drive straight across; we have to go around the bay.
It moderates weather, softening winter’s grip, and taming summer’s heat. It protects the area from severe thunderstorms.
It calls and confounds.
I cannot wrap my mind around its immensity. We live on just a tiny finger of this enormous inland sea.
It is 1300 miles to drive around it.
Lake Superior by surface area is the world’s largest freshwater lake. Statistics say it holds enough water to flood North AND South America to a depth of one foot.
Growing up in California, I never gave Lake Superior much thought. I knew it existed but never wanted or needed to know more.
Now I’m never far from the lake. I drive by everyday and familiarity almost renders it invisible. It is an afterthought, a big liquid mass in my peripheral vision. I know it’s there and many days that is the extent of my involvement.
Some days I go closer. I use Ashland’s lakeshore walking trail to walk dogs or ride bikes. Occasionally, I sit on one of the strategically placed benches to rest and think and enjoy the view.
Come summer, people, mostly kids, brave the lake’s cold water. My girls pay no heed to cold and swim and play with abandon. To be honest, I have never been in past my elbows. Swimming requires courage to be seen publicly in a swimsuit.
Kayaks get people out on the water. Motor boats take them farther still. Commercial ships venture out on the open lake. Divers explore its depths.
Some people have only head knowledge of Lake Superior. They know it’s there but it has no bearing on their lives. Some look and acknowledge its existence, but never get personally involved. Some walk beside it but never get wet. Some get their feet wet but don’t go all the way in. Some swim but stay close to shore. Some drive all the way around, and some dive in, fully immersed in this huge body of water.
In many ways, this is how we are with God.
It’s hard to wrap our mind around God’s immensity.
God defines our lives. He’s the reason our paths go here and not there. His will determines our direction.
God moderates weather in our lives. He protects us in life’s storms. His love takes their brunt so winters are not quite as cold, and summers not quite as hot.
Some people just have head knowledge of God but feel He has no bearing on their lives. Some acknowledge His existence but don’t get personally involved, while others watch from shore.
Some people never go past their elbows. They go to church, comfortable in its system, safe within its morals and values, without ever taking the plunge.
To know God, I can’t just stand on the shore. It’s not enough to get my toes wet. I must get out of the boat. I must go all the way in and lose myself in the hugeness of His unconditional love and forgiveness.
Jesus calls.
He wants me to know Him.
He bids me come and lose myself in His depths.
Total immersion. Cleansed from sin, renewed by faith, and buoyed by hope.
I leave shore and He welcomes with open arms. He loves unconditionally, forgives the ugliest of sins, and promises eternal life. He showers me with tender mercies and amazing grace.
And no matter how far out or deep I go, I only graze the surface.
His blessings abound and overflow.
An
Incredible
Awesome
Superior God.
and as we're sitting with frozen hair in a steaming hot pool with outside temps in the single digits,
watching lifeguards waddle around in snowpants and parkas, I thought, "You know, this isn't so bad." Sort of felt like we had cheated winter somehow.
