Smooth Stones

Several months ago, my husband and I were in San Diego, CA for some meetings, and I took full advantage of the beautiful weather by taking a walk on the beach one afternoon while Eugene was in one of his meetings. It soon became very apparent that this beach was unlike the Florida beaches that I was used to. On the beaches of the Florida panhandle, the sand is soft and as white as snow. On this beach in San Diego, there was no sand, only rocks. Rocks as far as my eyes could see that went straight out to the water’s edge. But there was something unusual about these particular rocks. They were not the jaggedy, sharp rocks that one would imagine. They were all smooth rocks. In fact, they were perfectly smooth stones, all different shapes, and sizes, but absolutely SMOOTH AS GLASS.I could have walked barefoot the entire length of that beach for miles and never cut or scratch my feet because the stones were so smooth.  Not one stone had a rough edge. Not one had a sharp side. Perfectly soft and smooth.I took this picture because the scene was so beautiful and I was in amazement at these stones and how smooth they were. As I watched the waves crash in over those stones over and over, I soon realized how those stones had become so smooth.They didn’t start out smooth. I’m sure that those stones were once rocks with very rough edges but as the years passed, and the waves crashed, little by little…the rough, sharp edges were smoothed out by the constant waves. And now I stood on a beach with stones smooth as glass beneath my feet.I began thinking of my life. Of how I too had had many, many rough edges in my life. Rough edges that life had given me or I had created to protect myself from further hurt and pain. Rough edges that, when people got close to me, would hurt them-- not intentionally-- but hurt and pain are inevitable when you have rough edges.As I stood on that beach as a 50-year-old woman, I could see at that moment how my rough edges had been smoothed out over the years.  My own jaggedy, rough edges had been smoothed out over the course of many years through the storms of this life. Storms will come. Waves will crash in on us.  And at times, it will feel relentless.  Storm after storm, crashing of waves after crashing of waves. But smooth stones are created out of the storms and the waves.I stood on that beach that day, able to see more of the grace, love, joy, hope, kindness, and gentleness of God evident in my life now than when I was a much younger me. The rough edges of my younger life had been smoothed out. Crash after crash of each wave of life had created a smoothness of my heart that I had once only prayed I could have obtained.What is the purpose of storms in our life? Of the waves of life constantly crashing over us? To smooth out the rough edges that we carry that can hurt people when we don’t even realize those edges are there.

There are no smooth stones without the crashing of the waves and there are no smooth, tender hearts without the crashing of the storms of this life.

When we have that perspective, then our storms become purposeful. The crashing of the waves now have meaning to us.

The waves come to smooth out our rough edges-- to bring a tenderness to our once hardened hearts-- to allow God’s grace to be further evident in our lives.

A beach full of smooth stones.

A life lived with a smooth heart.

Pleasant to walk on-- beautiful to look at.

May both be said of us.