Cold Clarity

You wake up one bright summer day (around noon of course) and decide to head to the beach. The sun glares down on you and cooks you like a slab of beef. Sweat soaks into your clothes and trickles down your forehead. You run to the water and submerge underneath the waves and...
Ahh.
The coldness brings feeling back into your burnt skin. The sweat and grime are washed away, and just like that you feel clean and brand new again.

Side note: If you have ever been to any of the beaches near Saginaw (namely Sanford and Bay City) your experience was probably nothing like this. You most likely reluctantly stepped into the murky greenish brown water and left smelling like a wet dog. But I digress.

The water encompasses you. It's so clear you can see the sandy floor beneath. Your sore muscles relax. When you finally come back to the surface the sun doesn't seem so vicious anymore.
There are some Bible verses that make me feel like this. When I feel caked in my sin nature and my bad attitude is sticking to me like mud, God's word gently washes it all away. Sometimes they're convicting, but, like diving into cold water, it brings me clarity. Here is such a verse:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is the body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
-Ephesians 1:15-23

I want to know the why behind things (my parents can testify). One of the things I love about this verse is that Paul, after praying that the church would have hope, gives reasons why we have the hope that we have. He prays that the people would learn to know God better, but then also prophesies about God's character so they would. He prays that the people would hope and believe in God's power, then explains why we can believe in God's power. 
We can hope in God because the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us. The same power that made Jesus king at his coronation in the heavenly realms is the same power that has called us to follow him. That power is incomparable.
As a pastor's kid, I practically live at the church. Sometimes, I get burnt out. But Jesus is the head of the church, and the fullness of him is manifested in it. Reading verses about Christ's power give me hope. His church is immensely valuable to him, and he won't abandon us.
The power and glory of Jesus Christ is filling his church with hope.
And that's way more refreshing than any trip to the beach.