Humbled surfer

Humbled Surfer – Devotion for 5/18/07

A couple of years ago my family and I went on vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina along with my wife’s sisters and their families. This is something we try to do quite a bit, and it is always a good time for all the family to be together at the beach for a week. Well, this particular year I decided that I was going to do something that I had not done since I was probably 17-18 years old – surf. Back when I was a teenager, I loved to surf, and would surf as often as I could. But as my family moved away from the coast, and I sold my surfboard, I eventually had to give it up. So I decided that I was going to rent a surfboard for the week, and show all the family how “I’ve still got it.”

When I rented the board, the only boards they would rent out were not necessarily what would technically be a “longboard,” but it still was a longer board than what I was used to, but I was OK with that because I knew it had been a long time since I had surfed, and having the longer board was supposed to make it easier. So I got out there the first day with the board, and all my nephews and my two sons were out there eager and anxious to watch Uncle Adam surf. My wife Jennifer even had the camera out to be able to take a picture to be able to prove that I could still surf. However, the waves were quite small that day, and as much as I tried I just could not catch a wave that day. The next day came, and the waves were a little better, so I began to tell them all they were really going to see something that day. I paddled out and got ready – I was going to really show them something! Again, all the nephews and my sons on the beach, my wife standing and waiting to capture me in digital glory, and me out on the board waiting for my defining moment – my perfect wave. As I saw it coming on the horizon, I turned the board around just as I remembered, and I began paddling. Furiously I paddled and paddled determined I was going to catch this wave. I looked up and saw Jennifer had raised the camera to be ready to take the picture and I knew this was the moment. The wave came and I felt the momentum begin to move the board, so I quickly popped up to my feet . . . only for the board to take a nose dive, throwing me straight down into the water. All the kids began to ask (after I eventually came up from under the water), “What happened, Uncle Adam?” And I gave them the only explanation that I knew – “This board is really not very good for surfing.”

I paddled out again, and again, and again. Eventually the kids got bored, my wife got tired of holding the camera, and my arms got worn out from all the paddling as not once did I successfully do what I simply knew that I could do – or at least what I used to could do. Frustrated, I paddled to shore only to be bombarded by my sons and nephews – “I want to try!!!” I thought to myself that this might be the best way to demonstrate to them how difficult it was to ride a wave, and so I gave a brief lesson and took out the first volunteer. I swam out with him and pushed the board along since it was quite a bit bigger than him, and when the first wave came we turned the board around and I pushed him to give him a good start. As the wave began to carry the board, I called out to him to stand up, and he did just as I had instructed – and that boy rode that wave all the way to the shore. All the kids and parents on the beach were screaming with approval, and his face was beaming. My face probably had a different countenance. He came out again – same result. Next nephew – same result. Next kid – same result. Five kids went out on my rented surfboard – five kids had their picture taken surfing. And I had yet to ride a single wave. I was so angry and myself. I was so humbled. I was so embarrassed.

Eventually I was able to regain the ability to surf, and I have since purchased a board (although it probably is too small for me – anyone interested in buying a board?), and I still struggle to ride a good wave. But I was reminded about this encounter this morning as I read Romans 12. In particular, Romans 12:3 states “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgments, each according to the measure of that God has assigned.” So many times we may not even realize it, but we give ourselves far more credit than what we deserve. Although there was a point in my life that I might could have bragged a little (very little) about surfing, that was years ago. And just because I could do something years ago says nothing about what I can do today. Many times we think back to those “spiritual mountaintop” experiences – maybe a retreat when we really felt close to God – and we rest on those moments, that relationship memory. And maybe we tend to rest on that memory of that moment, and maybe we begin to think a little more of ourself and our relationship with God. Each one of us needs to remember no to think more highly of ourselves based on anything – past experience, ability, reputation. What we need to think on is how we can just keep growing, and how we can help others be built up into the image of God. Today, humble yourself before you are humbled.