The Struggle Against the Tide

Over the past century, the United States has replenished more than 818 miles of coastline with new sand—a staggering effort to combat the natural erosion that threatens both property and prosperity. According to the National Beach Nourishment Database, this process has involved the placement of roughly 1.5 billion cubic yards of sand, costing billions of dollars. Cities like Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, have undergone dozens of nourishment projects, spending over $107 million since 1939 to preserve their shoreline.

This isn’t just an American phenomenon. In Barcelona, Spain, beaches are losing approximately 30,000 cubic meters of sand each year—equivalent to twelve Olympic swimming pools—as the ocean erodes a shoreline originally expanded for the 1992 Olympics. Today, those beaches average at just one-third their 1992 width, and recent storms have erased entire sections overnight. Despite plans for €60 million worth of modular breakwaters, sand replenishment remains the primary tool for preserving the city’s coastline.

Coastal scientists recognize the difficulty of shoreline management and warn of a growing dilemma: Should we continue fighting erosion or allow shorelines to shift naturally? A recent study from Cambridge University frames this tension as one between exploitation and conservation—highlighting the need to balance short-term economic gains with long-term sustainability. As sea levels rise and currents shift, erosion in any given place may accelerate, threatening tourism, infrastructure, and ecosystems.

But beneath the physical erosion of a coastline lies a deeper metaphor—one that speaks to the spiritual condition of our time.

Just as sand is relentlessly washed away from beaches, so too are the moral foundations of society wearing down over the years. The Apostle Paul described a time when people would be “lovers of themselves,” “proud,” “unholy,” and “without self-control” (2 Timothy 3:1–7). These traits reflect a society adrift—where truth is relative and values are swept out to sea.

Paul’s warning is not abstract. He wrote of people who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” This is a sobering description of moral drift, where even religious activity has become hollow, no longer anchored in truth as presented in the Bible. The erosion Paul described is not sudden—it’s gradual, like the tide pulling sand away from a beach, grain by grain, until the beach is gone. It is because of this unrelenting tension created by the downward pull of society that Christians are encouraged to hope without wavering (Hebrews 10:23) and told to hold fast to the word of life and to what is good (Philippians 2:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:21).

It is easy to see the spiritual parallel to the physical reshaping of shorelines—the relentless washing away of sand mirrors the very real “erosion” that today’s society can have on someone who is trying to follow Christ. As cities pour resources into preserving their beaches, Christians pour time into daily Bible study and prayer to stay close to the Creator God. However, theirs is no fruitless struggle against the tide! God, who created those beaches, calls His people out of the world and gives them sure hope for everlasting success.

If you’re ready to reinforce your spiritual shoreline, enroll today in the Tomorrow’s World Bible Study Course. It’s a journey through the mind of God—one that will keep you standing firm as this world’s society continues to drift from the word that is firmly settled in the heavens (Psalm 119:89).