Even if you don’t live near the ocean, you’ve heard of it, probably seen pictures of it, and maybe even visited. And if you have been to the seashore, you may have been struck by the vastness of the expanse of water. It just keeps going.

The ocean is used as a metaphor for overwhelming amounts, as in “an ocean of debt,” for example, or “a drop in the ocean.” Even though people have been exploring this world since the dawn of humanity, we still don’t know everything that’s down there in the watery depths or out there in the vast landless expanses.

When I’ve been on a ship at sea where no land is visible, the size of the earth and the amount of water covering it boggles my mind and makes me feel tiny. It’s humbling and awesome at the same time.

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory, as the water covers the sea.” (Habakkuk‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬, ‭CSB‬‬)

God’s glory is more vast than anything He created including the ocean. But because of our limited perspective here on earth, it is an apt simile.

God isn’t revealing Himself in the world right now. He’s waiting for just the right moment for that. We can catch glimpses of His majesty reflected here and there in His creation and some of His activity. But it pales in comparison to what is to come. Our present experience of God is just a drop in the ocean.

One day we’ll see the whole shebang, God in all His glory, swallowing up all that is, like the water covers the sea.

Dear God, my mind is too small to imagine your glory in all its fullness. Thank you for the metaphor of the ocean. Thank you for actual oceans, too, for that matter. Your creation, even in its current less-than-perfect state, is awesome and beautiful. I am so excited to see how your glory remakes it.