Lessons from sand crabs

I'm here on vacation at Virginia Beach. The house I'm staying at is amazing, the beach is hot, the water cool, the sky perfect. It makes for some beautiful sunrises and great late night walks on the beach.

One of the creatures one encounters on these nocturnal strolls is the sand crab, a small crab that could fit in most people's hands and whose main talent seems to be running away. They remind me a lot of those little RC cars in how quickly they move.

There's a lot to learn from these eight-legged critters. First, they're almost always within 20 feet of where high tide comes in. They know that the source of their food is the ocean. They can't comprehend it anymore than we can comprehend God, but they know it brings them food, and that is good enough for them. They don't waste their time wandering away from the ocean in search for another source of food. They don't argue with each other about how the ocean should supply food or other aspects of the ocean. They just stick near the ocean and let it provide for them.

How I wish we could do that with God! Instead, we're looking at all the other puddles we see around us and wondering what kind of food will come from them. It will either be scant or tainted - usually both - and will leave us wondering what we were thinking by going to that source. Yet, rather than go back to our Ocean, we go to the next puddle or gutter stream or sewage outlet, thinking the food has to be better there.

Second, when there's danger, the crabs usually run toward the ocean. If they're not very close to their little holes, they run at full speed toward the ocean and seek protection there. Sometimes, they run right into my feet, just like we run right into more problems when we try to avoid them, but they right themselves and head toward the ocean.

In several walks on the beach both here and in Wilmington, NC, I've seen only one crab actually hold its ground and threaten us with claws held up in defiance. And if I'd wanted to, I could have stomped on that crab and killed it. The point is that we are too small ourselves to stand up to all the world throws at us. We can shake our claws in defiance at it and hold our ground, but we'll eventually get stepped on and crushed. Our only other option is to run somewhere for protection, yet even here, we run toward another source or a hole or another bunch of crabs who are all trying to look out for themselves rather than run to our Ocean and let Him protect us.

Third, the crabs actually work hard, getting their food and digging their holes. I see them often standing there waiting for me to pass, frozen in the beam of my flashlight, but more often, I see them moving around, hunting for the shells the ocean has thrown up and checking them for food or throwing out little bits of sand from their holes. They seem tireless. They're also always checking to see if it's dark out yet. Even in the middle of the day, if their holes are in the shade at all, they will come out and check to see if it's night yet.

I think we default into one of two modes: either wanting God to provide everything for us without us lifting a finger or not trusting God to provide anything for us. Neither is a proper view of God or how He works. Look back at Scripture. In the Old Testament, God often delivers the enemy into the Israelites' hands, but in all cases (that I can think of, at least), there is some action required of someone. Joshua or King David have to lead their troops into battle, Gideon has to blow the horn and smash the pot holding the torch, Naaman has to go bathe in the Jordan seven times, and so on. Always an action. In the New Testament, there is not a single case where Jesus just went to someone's house because He knew there was a sick person there. The family either had to send someone to Him to bid him to come or bring their sick to Him. "Faith without works is dead."

The other situation is probably even worse, since God seems to respond in the Bible only when He's asked to. If we're not depending on Him, then why would He provide miraculously for us? Does the ocean throw it's food into every lake and puddle inland? No, a crab must go to the ocean to find it. Why would we expect God to treat us differently?