Reflections at the Beach: A Sunset Ending

 

Reflections at the Beach

Week sixteen

A Sunset Ending 

Psalm 113:3

      I can't think of a better way to close out a day at the beach then simply walking hand in hand with those that you love as the sun sets near you . It might sound overly romantic or somewhat cliche, but nothing can disturb the perfection of a sunset. Nothing can compare with a sunset near the shore .  The typically blue sky is radiated with Hues of orange, pink, and purple. The Master Artist chooses to change the pallette of His colors He uses. Each brushstroke reminding us to magnify His name. The final few rays stretch the heavens to remind us of someone far greater than us. It's incredible that the most important star in our solar system that resides over 93 million miles away can have such an effect on us. Humanity since its creation has been in awe of it. Sunsets also remind us of the beauty in endings. Endings don't always seem beautiful though. I'm sure we've all watched movies or read books where the ending wasn't quite what we expected. Possibly it was anti-climatic or disappointing. But the glory of a sunset reminds us that endings can be beautiful, but can be difficult. 

      Most of us have adopted the picturesque image of every story ending with the words 'they lived happily ever after.' The idea that happy endings are etched in stone is nothing more than wishful thinking. Every story has an ending, but maybe not the happy one that we had planned. What do we do when the relationship that we planned falls apart? What do we do when the dream job closes? What do we do when a doctor's visit changes our entire outlook? Or when our spouse gets cancer ? Or loved ones endure dementia where they don't even know who they are ? Or what do we do when the college we wanted to go to says no? None of that was in 'the cards. ' We didnt plan for that to be the ending. We would have never wrote the story in that fashion . What do we do when our happy ending forces a new beginning?  The psalmist wrote "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised (Psalm 113:3)." How can we praise God when disappointment and discouragement strike our hearts deeply? How do we thank God when we are mired in the fog of confusion? How do we praise God when an ending tragically causes us to say goodbye to those we love the most? We're able to praise God because He holds every tomorrow, the expected and the unexpected. We're able to praise God because the ultimate ending is to be with Him forever through Jesus Christ. Each of our temporal endings on planet Earth fluctuate, but our Eternal ending is a glorious promise to live with Jesus forever. Maybe you are stuck right now living in the disappointment of what could have been. Maybe you are carrying feelings of bitterness because the ending is not what you expected. But don't allow the bitterness to take your eyes off of the Lord and to praise Him. To give Him thanks for each ending, happy or not. And give Him the ultimate Glory that the ending of your story is His story.