I was a new believer, on fire for Jesus, eager to do something for God.
I talked to pastors to get direction. I read the Bible. I prayed. All the while, I’d ask God what I could do for Him, and through it all, I’d receive no clear answer.
Frustrated, I decided that I needed another time of silence and solitude, so I returned to Balboa Peninsula one week after my first retreat there. Parking at the beach could be challenging at times, but I found a metered parking space that had a one-hour limit. Having more than one hour would have been nice, but I trusted that God could communicate whatever He wanted to me in an instant, if He wanted to. I paid the meter and headed for the pier, finding a nice, quiet spot to sit at and pray.
“Okay, God. What can I do for you?”
No answer.
My mind began to wander after a few minutes, so rather than lose focus, I decided to start praying for my family, my friends, and my small group members. It was nice to pray without being pressed for time, or without drowsiness threatening to cut short my bedtime prayers. Before I knew it, a half-hour had gone by.
I still had about thirty minutes left on the parking meter. “God, are You going to speak to me today? I’d really like to do something for You. Could You please tell me what I can do?”
Still no answer.
Restless, I wandered to the end of the pier, where fishermen were reeling in mackerel by the bucket load. As I tracked a line of baited hooks being cast into the water, a trio of sea lions popped their heads out, ready to intercept the next catch. I chuckled, reminded of the sea lion I had seen– and the lessons I had learned– on my previous visit to Balboa.
I checked my watch. There were less than ten minutes left on the parking meter.
“God, I need to start heading for my car in a few minutes. Are You going to say anything to me before I leave? I’d really like to do something for You out of gratitude for what You’ve done for me, so if you could just give me some sort of clue, that’d be great.”
Just then, a pod of dolphins pierced the surface about twenty yards from the pier, their streamlined silhouettes weaving across the waves in graceful arcs.
I’d seen this image at marine parks or in nature documentaries, but never before out in the wild, this up close, with my own eyes. What a majestic sight.
And in this moment, God spoke to me.
“Take a look around you.”
I obeyed, and in moments, I was attuned to the beauty of God’s creation engulfing me. The message was clear: “Everything around you– the sleek dolphins leaping over the rippling emerald sea, the caw of seagulls soaring overhead, the whisper of the ocean breeze, the crash of waves upon the sand, the laughter of a child out for a stroll with his parents– God made all these things. You can’t do anything for Him.”
Put in my place and humbled.
I realized how absurd it was for me to think I could somehow do something for the Creator of the universe. This was God’s way of teaching me Isaiah 66:1-2:
‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ declares the Lord. ‘These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.’
All of God’s creation– the heavens, the sea, and living things, great and small– brought God glory not by what they did, but by simply being His beautiful creatures. They don’t even need words to declare God’s glory– it all comes out of simply being what they were created to be.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
(Psalm 19:1-4 NIV)
I reflected on what it might mean for me to stop trying to do something for God, and instead, simply be one of His beautiful creatures. This led me to the book of Ephesians, chapter 5.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. (Ephesians 5: 8-10)
There may have been nothing I could do “for” God, but there was plenty I could do to try to please Him.
I could start by trying to live as a child of light.
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