Sea Glass

I don’t exactly know how a hobby starts, but I am now an official collector of sea glass.

Recently, I had the incredible privilege of speaking to pastors in Las Conchas Mexico, which is located at the northernmost tip of the Gulf of California.  Also known as Rocky Point, the beach is well known for having one of the greatest shore distances between high and low tide.  While the waves crash against the breaker wall during high tide, the waves are more than 175 yards from the wall during low tide.  The massive length of beach during low tide creates a prime opportunity to find incredible shells and sea glass.

Sea glass is formed when natural pieces of broken glass from bottles, tableware or even shipwrecks tumble through the ocean colliding against rocks and other objects until the sharp edges are smooth and rounded.  Because of the salt water, the glass loses its shiny slick look taking on a dull frosted appearance.

Apparently, some people who are fortunate enough to live near a beach are obsessed with sea glass beginning each day combing the beach in search of the rare find.  If you want to go to extremes, you can attend the annual convention of the Northern Sea Glass Association.  I can only imagine the topics of the breakout sessions.

The thought of a once sharp object tumbling and constantly colliding with other objects until the edges are rounded appeals to me.  It reminds me of the Holy Spirit using trials, hardships and painful difficulties to round the sharp edges on my personality.  When we encounter painful periods in life, we can submit to the trial as an opportunity for the Lord to shape our personality or we can resist the work of the Lord.

Walking the Mexican beach each morning, I found dozens of pieces of sea glass.  However, most pieces I found, while having lost their sharp edges lacked the smooth edges and frosted appearance.  In other words, the glass needed to spend another decade or two in the ocean to truly smooth its corners.

I Peter 1:7 tells us that “these have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

God graciously, kindly, mercifully, continually throws me back into life’s stormy seas in order to shape my heart to more closely reflect the person of Jesus.  I long to more gladly welcome trials as God’s smoothing work in my sharp edged life.