Lessons From the Ocean

 

 I'm currently on my ninth consecutive day crossing the Atlantic Ocean. I'd be inclined to say that I've seen it! The reality is though that I've barely scratched the surface, literally. According to Brittanica, the average depth of the Atlantic Ocean is 11,962 feet. That's over two miles deep on average! In some places it can be as deep as 27,493 feet. 

 By comparison, Mount Rainier is 14,400 feet. I could literally be sailing over mountains, actually I guess I have. I crossed over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, also called the Mid-Ocean Ridge, at some point on my journey. This is the most extensive chain of mountains on earth stretching nearly 40,390 miles. What I'm getting at is, there's a lot below me.

 Between me and the ocean floor are fish of all kinds, plants, all sorts of plankton and micro thingys. While I feel like I've seen all there is to see of the Atlantic Ocean, there's so much more that I can't even conceptualize it. 

 Where am I going with this? God showed me on this trip that this applies directly to scripture. Take the most well-known verse in the world, John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 I memorized this verse as a small child. I've read it over and over and over. I've studied it. I've blogged about it.  As much as I might start to think I know all there is to know about this verse, about God's love, I've barely scratched the surface. Each new experience in my life teaches me new things about God's love. Just when I might start to think there's nothing more to learn, it's like God turns the page in the book and I realize I've only read the introduction. 

Here's the Thing: We become so accustomed to our lives that we think we "know" things. We've got it all figured out. But there really are no experts on life. If we're still here, we're still breathing, we've still got things to learn!