The Sea Remains the Sea

Dear Lord, today I thought of the words of Vincent van Gogh,
"It is true that there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea."
You are the sea. Although I may experience many ups and downs in my emotions and often feel great shifts in my inner life, You remain the same....
There are days of sadness and days of joy; there are feelings of guilt and feelings of gratitude; there are moments of failure and moments of success; but all of them are embraced by Your unwavering love.
My only real temptation is to doubt Your love... To remove myself from the healing radiance of Your love. To do these things is to move into the darkness of despair.
O Lord, sea of love and goodness, let me not fear too much the storms and winds of my daily life, and let me know that there is ebb and flow... but that the sea remains the sea.
Amen.

-Henri J. M. Nouwen