Sea Oats

Sea Oats


Reflections by the Sea © Betsy Ore Glass
October 13, 2010

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

 –Hebrews 11:1 NIV

October is when the sea oats are at their most beautiful and majestic in my opinion. The stalks have grown tall and the oats are perfectly formed to create a mass of gold. They protect the dunes from erosion because their roots run deep into the sand. The dictionary says that the root of any plant is the part that develops and grows downward into the soil. It anchors the plant and absorbs nutrients and moisture, all necessary elements for life. While we enjoy the display of gold waving back and forth in the rustling autumn breezes, we are thankful that the root system is strong enough to produce the beauty we enjoy this time of year. We may not be able to see what is going on deep in the sand as roots reach out and anchor themselves to gain strength and stability, but we know the work is being done because of what we can see with our eyes above ground.

Faith is something we simply can’t live without. It is our root system. The discipline of reading the Bible, going to church and saying our prayers is not in vain. We are being fed spiritually when we seek God and His Ways, which in turn builds our faith. You might go days, weeks, months or even years and feel like you are sailing along just fine and then suddenly your faith is tested. And that moment is when you know if you can weather the storm or not based on the strength of your faith. Do we understand why some things happen just because we have faith? No, sometimes things aren’t clear. Again, we need faith to accept the things we cannot change, the things we don’t understand. And more importantly, we need to live by faith so not to remain in that place of fear, crisis or concern. We need faith to rise up in order to move up and over the problem. Can anyone ever have enough faith? Just think of the root system of that swaying sea oat. It never stops working at staying alive. When that root system strives to stay healthy and alive, it thrives.