Are You Living In Your Element?

I was walking along the Atlantic beach this morning, and came upon a starfish which had been washed up onto the beach, due to the tide.  It was lying in the sand, a yard away from the waves. It would not be long for this world if it stayed on that sand, and out of its element — the ocean saltwater. It would soon dry up and die. I had walked around several starfish that had already perished.

 So I made several attempts to kick this one back into the ocean.  I was able to get it out as far as an incoming wave, but the shallowness of the ocean and the power of the waves kept washing it back onto the sand.  Several kicks later we succeeded in getting the starfish back into its element, the Atlantic Ocean.  It drifted into the rolling waters and disappeared.

The Lord gave me a parable about this starfish’s experience:  Just as it is important for the starfish to stay in its preferred environment, so it is important for us to stay in our element. From the Heavenly Father’s point of view, our element is to live in the Spirit of God.  Just as God created the starfish to live in sea water, so the Almighty created us to live immersed in the Holy Spirit. If we stay away from the Spirit of God we will be “beached”. We will slowly dry up and die.

Friends can help you if you have gotten washed away from the spiritual environment that God wants for you.  They can kick you back into the water, as I did the starfish. The ebb and flow of life can cause us to end up on the beach.  The turmoil of the day’s waves can throw us around.  So stay close to your friends, and invite them to “kick you” back into the spiritual element of the Holy Spirit, if life “beaches” you.

In Christ,