In the last post of this year’s Joy to the Soul Summer series, I’m wondering how much sand can I hold? My curiosity is piqued because my husband loves building sandcastles. While we’re at the beach, he invites me to participate in the digging, scooping, and shaping of what will become his newest work of art. 

But my question about how much sand I can hold is also due to Jeremy Camp’s song, Out of My Hands. It’s on my workout playlist. The song talks about letting “fear fall like sand” out of our hands and into God’s hands. I sense God using the lyrics to work my worries out of me. But to be honest, many of the things that weigh me down are from past hurts rather than present dilemmas.

When my mind tips toward discouragement, it bypasses the many ways I’ve seen the faithfulness of God.

By now, you may be thinking about how much sand you can hold too? If so, we’re in good company. You may be familiar with the Bible story about Job. He was a man who obeyed God. And yet, Job faced unimaginable tragedies. As Job processed his pain, he sat with friends who misunderstood his plight.

After giving a few rash responses to his friends, Job admitted it was due to his grief. He said, “If my misery could be weighed and my troubles be put on the scales, they would outweigh all the sands of the sea. That is why I spoke impulsively” (Job 6:2-3 NLT).

I get it. Until the worries I carry become the weight I release to the Lord, I keep speaking impulsively, too. And when I do, I wait for the proverbial “other shoe to drop.” It’s the next complication that shows up to highlight what’s already a crisis. Then it feels like the ground I’ve gained from past struggles also means I just have more to lose.

But Job’s comparison between the amount of his troubles and all the sands of the sea is striking. From a biblical perspective, sand says more than we know. In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus explains how His teachings provide a solid foundation for us to live wisely. His words give us the way to endure when troubles come. But Jesus also warns us that living without the wisdom of His words results in foolishly living on the flimsy foundation of sand.

If you’ve ever been to the beach, in the desert, or in a sandbox, you know sand isn’t the best building material. If it has contact with too much water (imagine the storms of life), sand gives way. It quickly falls apart or falls through our hands.

But the tiny granules of sand are too numerous for anyone to count – that is anyone except God.

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” (Psalms 139:17-18 NLT)

These verses shift us from the sand of our worries to the significance of God’s grace. Then, if the proverbial “other shoe drops,” we can be confident the precious promises of God will cover the shoe and His child. Likewise, the ground we’ve gained from past struggles is not just what we stand to lose. The hard-fought ground we stand on represents the victory we have through Christ. We can trust that God will do all the digging, scooping, and shaping to form our trust into His newest work of art. Perhaps the better question to ask is how much grace can we hold? I’m pretty sure it outnumbers the grains of sand in the sea.