Is there anything more overwhelming in this world than staring out at its seemingly endless oceans? The seas, teeming with life yet able to destroy it in moments, hug about 70 percent of the Earth’s crust. We may be able to shoot down ballistic missiles and cure disease, but there is nothing we can do to change the ocean’s tide.

Even the smallest of waves can cause great damage. Every summer growing up, my family and I would travel to Ocean City, Maryland. We would set aside one day to visit Assateague Island National Seashore, a small barrier island south of Ocean City. On one occasion, when I was around four or five, I walked along the shore with my mom looking for shells and sand crabs. Out of nowhere, a wave tackled me and began drawing me out to sea. Panic coursed through my body as I tried to stand up, but the surging waters pinned me. Disoriented, I grasped at the sifting sand trying to hold myself from the undertow’s pull. Screaming and crying, I felt my mom’s fingers clench my wrists and stop me. As she helped me back on my feet, I looked down to see my swim suit around my ankles. I quickly redressed and ran out to the dry, scorching sand. I’m still not the biggest Assateague fan.

Many vacation on beautiful shores across the globe, yet these can be the most dangerous places to settle. Nobody can stop a tidal wave or flood waters from decimating coastal cities. No piece of technology can stop a hurricane. The best course of action is still, and always will be, evacuation.

Yet when these waters are calm and the sun’s rays glisten off the glass-like waves, souls are comforted. This is why people go on YouTube and listen to hours of gentle ocean waves to rock them to sleep.

Not only do oceans offer us artistic appeal, but life in the form of a virtually endless supply of food. No scientist can confidently estimate the amount of species that inhabit the ocean’s waters. In a 2010 census of marine life, scientists estimated that somewhere between 178,000 to more than 10 million species make their home in the ocean’s shores alone. Shores were defined by the census as waters up to 65 feet in depth. Keep in mind that the deepest recorded area of the ocean is Challenger Deep in the western Pacific Ocean measuring about 36,200 feet deep. When it comes to the ocean, there is much we have no idea about. When it come/s to the mystery of the deep, it’s one that leaves us feeling small in a big world we don’t fully understand.

The more I read through the Old Testament of the Bible, the more I see its writers reference the ocean as an object of marvel. With virtually no technology to explore the deep seas, it’s not hard to see why a people living long ago would be astonished at such a vast expanse of unknown. Yet at the same time, things only recently discovered about the ocean were impeccably described by those who could only look out and wonder.

We have the faintest idea of how many species dwell in the oceans. 178,000 to 10 million species? That’s an awful lot of variance for as small a portion of the ocean as the coastal shores comprise. Similarly, the world was shocked in 1977 when oceanographers discovered hot springs, or hydrothermal vents, along the ocean floor.

Yet in scripture, the ocean is described as having “fountains of the great deep” and “springs” in the Old testament books of Genesis, Job, and Proverbs. In addition, the ocean is written to be “teeming with creatures beyond number-living things both large and small” in Psalms. Crucial modern day scientific discoveries were already declared thousands of years ago.

As summer hits and I look forward to laying out on the beach gazing past the breakers toward the heart of the sea, I am in awe of God. He is the one who created this piece of artwork that we call Earth. He described it to us in his Word and gave us science to discover the proof of His testimony. We can stare out to sea or up to the stars and realize just how incomprehensible the greatness of God really is.

We are small in a big world. Yet through Jesus Christ, we are loved by a bigger God.

The following scripture was referenced throughout the blog. Check out these wonderful truths for yourself!

Genesis 7:11 – Fountains of the great deep.

Job 38:16a – Springs of the sea.

Proverbs 8:22,28 – God before creation; springs in the sea.

Psalm 104:25 – Innumerable creatures in the sea.