Sea Oats to the Rescue!

Hebrews 1  New American Standard Bible

God’s Final Word in His Son

1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, to the extent that He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

While on vacation, we saw lots of sights.  I like the beach, but I like the mountains, too.  Tricia and I debated which type vacation we like the best, but never could make up our minds.  Being an agriculture person, I'm always looking at plants, trees and the like, wherever we go.  We hiked on the island and went into a Discovery Center for the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  The Seashore runs from Mississippi to Florida and the museum had a video we watched that was very interesting about the wildlife that inhabits this ecosystem.

One of the interesting things we learned was about "Sea Oats."  I took a photograph of them below.  Sea Oats were all over the sand dunes and birds would fly and roost on the stalk of the sea oats as they swayed lazily in the breeze.  If you look closely below, you can see why they got the name sea oats.  They have a head on them that looks similar to oats.  While what you see above the ground is interesting, it's what you can't see that makes this plant a real hero.

Sea oats, we learned, are a remarkable plant largely responsible for the islands' success in remaining despite hurricanes and punishing winds and water in this extreme weather environment.  Sea oats have an extensive root system that stretches out and holds the sand in place.  If the roots of the sea oats were not there, the sand dunes would be blown away and deposited elsewhere.  This is of vital importance to the mainland as the barrier islands serve as a "first line of defense" against the onslaught of bad weather, absorbing the first blows of hurricanes to protect the mainland.

The Bible verse I pasted above tells us that 'God upholds all things by the word of His Power.'  God holds all things together.  This is very encouraging to me.  As hurricane force winds metaphorically blow in our lives, we need an anchor - something to keep us from being blown away.  God is that rock, that strong tower, that Mighty Fortress that holds us together.

In a time of shifting sand, may we build our house upon the Rock!