If you don’t know what they are, they can be deadly!
I never knew much or never have been taught much about rip tides, although I have been fortunate to vacation on the Gulf Coast since childhood.
I love it! I distinctly remember a summer vacation trip to the coast where they rented a little beach cabin near the water. We went out together to wade in the waves and enjoy resting on the sandy beach. I guess I knew how small I was, and how big and powerful the ocean was. I don’t remember a lot of instruction about the water, but I stayed near Daddy.
Out in the shallow water, Daddy and I were exploring. Suddenly, he started hollering and jumping around. I didn’t know much about dangerous sea creatures so I was bewildered! He had a crab hanging on for dear life on his big toe!
I am no expert on waves. Never surfed. Don’t get out too deep. Never been on a sea-do. Haven’t spent much time on boats that weren’t in a pond or lake.
But I have been recently warned about riptides and the danger. My daughter-in-law, who grew up in Florida, knows so much about the joys and dangers of being in the ocean as well as fishing from boats and piers. She explained what to look for and what to avoid on our last beach trip. She told me to look for a peaceful-looking space or channel in the ocean between the waves that appears to be safe and easy to access, because it can pull you out to sea and even pull you under.
So, I looked up rip tides and did a little reading about them. In reality, the smoother, often darker water, between the water coming to shore in white-capped waves, is a buildup of water from the incoming waves that is pulling quickly away from the shore.
The rip tides can form in a break in a sandbar or near a pier or jettie, which is a low point where the water flows back to the sea. If the waves are beautifully breaking on the shore, there can be a smoother rip tide.
That’s kind of like a spiritual trap. The way to go, the decision we make in life, the path of action we choose, can look like a calm, safe place among crashing waves. But the easy path can lead to destruction without Christ.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
Don’t let anyone or anything pull you away from Christ!
Don’t stray from His strong side!
