I Had No Idea Of The Danger I Was Heading Towards..

After six years of capturing every sunrise you’d think I’d be wise to the dangers but my sense of security was false and this morning the outcome could have been much worse.

I wrongly believed that because I capture the beauty of creation at God’s request and He controls the waves, He would keep me safe but that’s not how this day turned out.

In the Bible God tells us:

“Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule that needs bit and bridle to stay on track.” Psalm 32:9

But that had been my mentality when I was washed from safety.Conditions appeared quite calm when I headed out onto the rock shelf ready to photograph sunrise not realising that the tide had turned and with no warning, a set of freak waves came pounding in, one after the other.

I clambered for safety up the cliff face a long way from the waters’ edge as the first wave reached my ankles. I had never seen calm waves turn into such a raging sea with no warning before. With my heart pounding I hung onto the only thing I could grasp, a tiny strip of sandstone thinner than my finger jutting out from the cliff with one hand to keep me from falling and onto my camera and monopod with the other ….

The second and third waves washed against my knees and I thought I’d be ok but then the forth wave came pounding in across the rock shelf hitting about my waist with an undertow so strong it knocked me from my place of safety onto my back in the water, destroying all my camera equipment and there was no-one else around – I was alone on the rock shelf.

Sometimes the consequences from a decision aren’t what we’d have hoped they’d be and I was in deep water because of the bad choice I’d made.

With God guiding me I believed I’d be safe but I learned this is not the case. God gave us the intelligence to make wise choices. We ultimately pay the price for the decisions we make because God gave us a free will and won’t intervene when we make wrong choices. That’s because He’s God and wants us to be obedient to Him because we choose to. He wants a personal relationship with us, He has no desire for us to turn into robots with no say in what we do, He wants us to make our own choice to follow Him.

Satan had a free will and he wanted more than anything to be worshipped but that desire ultimately became his demise – ….
Isa. 14:13. “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly [wanting all to worship him], on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.” This sounds like 2 Thes. 2:4 which says, “He opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, and even sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” And for a time he gets his wish. As Rev. 13:4 says, “Men worshiped the dragon [who is Satan –see Rev. 12:9] because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast…”

Isa. 14:14 continues recording Satan’s words: “I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” The devil has always wanted to be like God and to be worshiped in place of God. He even tried to tempt Jesus by showing “Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’” (Matt. 4:8,9) How sick… Yet this same desire is what his influence brings to the heart of those who refuse to obey God. Have we not heard many claiming that they themselves are evolving into gods –or are already gods? Yes. But it is merely the devil’s age-old lie found way back in Gen.3:4,5, “You will not surely die… you will be like God…” And this most definitely is the path mysticism takes a person down, whether it’s stated blatantly like the New Agers and Word of Faith followers state, or whether it’s cloaked in some other more deceptive jargon like “attaining to Christ- likeness” (when they really mean “becoming one with the Divine.”) From a blog by Rachel

When we begin to do something new we are well aware that we have much to learn, but when we become accomplished, pride can step in and if we aren’t careful that pride can lead us sideways into a place we were never intended to be.

Pride goes before a fall is the famous old saying and pride is a tool Satan uses to lure us away from the path God would have for us if we let him.

As christians , we should never forget that our ‘cleverness’ is a gift from God – not because we’re ‘amazing’ and we are uniquely gifted for a reason. For us to then begin to believe we are in some way worthy of praise for this gifting will keep us from the role God wants us to play and like Satan, a bad choice could ultimately be our demise.

It’s sad to say, but the truth is that the devil won’t be alone as he’s sailing into the lake of fire. The
Bible says that he’ll be joined by all his legions and every human being who rejected Jesus and whose name is not in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (See Revelations 19:20; 20:10, 14-15; 21:8) That is serious business, but it’s nothing you have to worry about if you’ve chosen to follow Christ. It’s definitely something to consider, however, if you’ve rejected Christ up to this point.
People like to crack jokes about Hell. They say, “Who cares? All my friends will be there with
me!” But, nobody is going to be laughing when they’re actually faced with the reality of Hell.
Jesse Duplantis

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, ’The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Acts 3:19-22 NIV

And when you do…

That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all – irrespective of how we got here – in what he is building. Ephesians 2:19

Please share this message with those you love and bring light to someone else’s world!
2015 Elaine Costin All Rights Reserved