Stormy Winds in The Will of God

Recently, I had occasion to lead our church's weekly prayer meeting. My usual routine for preparation includes, among other things, being acutely aware of what is happening at the time. I do this because one of my highest priorities is to be relevant in my ministry and I find people can better relate to life-based lessons. Therefore, I was kind of tuned in to the thunderstorms that went through the area I was working in earlier that day. Like most thunderstorms I've been around it started with the typical rapidly cooling temperature. Then a light rain, followed by the lightning and resultant thunderclaps. It rained sufficient enough for me to send crews working in the open home for their safety. In later meditation, a scripture in the Book of Psalms came to me. Psalms 148 deals with the fact that all creation must worship God. He is above all and everything in His creation is designed to recognize this fact and bow before their maker. (Unfortunately not all of mankind will humble themselves and bow before Him at this time. Later on they will, but that is another message for another blog.) Nature has no choice but to obey God. Therefore this verse sticks out in my mind: Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling his word: (Psalms 148:8 KJV, emphasis mine) This passage from the 148th Psalm shows us what too many of us wish was not God's will - the storms of life. They come to all of us at different times. Of course, it's usually at the wrong times, or so it seems. But did you ever consider why they are part of God's will? When things are going well it's far too easy to become complacent in our relationship with God. We know that we need Him, we just don't call on Him like we should. Therefore a little stormy wind will send us running to shelter, and because He is our shelter, "voila!" we are back where we are supposed to be. Not all stormy wind is a bad thing. I'm not talking about a gentle breeze, which generally is just enough to cool your brow. I'm talking about big wind. The kind of wind that makes you want to run around the farm yelling "Auntie Em, Auntie Em!" Do you wonder what good there is in a Kansas twister type of storm? Consider the plight of the children of Israel as they were in Egypt. The Bible records that they were living in Egypt after the miraculous events of Joseph's day, when a pharaoh arose that didn't like the fact that so many foreigners were in his country. He saw them as a threat and slavery and bondage ensued. Many years later God raised up a deliverer - Moses. When leading them out of the land of bondage they got to the edge of the Red Sea. Mountains on two sides, an enemy behind them and a seemingly impossible crossing in front of them. Many of them would have looked at their situation and considered the possible options, negotiate with their enemies or try and hike over the mountains. But neither negotiating with the enemy or climbing mountains was in God's will that day. He wanted to conclusively show His power. Not only to the Egyptians, but to the Israelites as well. So what was His will for that day? A stormy wind. Again, not the gentle breeze that blows your napkin off the picnic table. God's will for the day was to send a stormy wind powerful enough to part the waters of the Red Sea, dry the ground and amaze the daylights out of His chosen people! In another story, He calmed the winds with His words. In both instances God chose water and wind as the media for His message. He has the power to command wind for His purpose, and His purpose usually has something to do with benefiting His people. That's you and me. It's interesting to note that the New Birth experience that Jesus spoke about to Nicodemus also uses these two media - baptism in water and spirit. (See John 3:3-8 and Acts 2:1-4, 38) So next time you're in a wind storm ask yourself, "If God is commanding this wind for my betterment, is He trying to get my attention also?" Chances are He is. Let the wind blow. You can't stop it anyway!

Turning "L"

Well it finally happened. I waited half a century for that momentous day when, yes, I became an antique. I call it turning "L" which is the Roman numeral for the big five-oh. I told everyone I was using "L" because I refuse to use the "F" word. Some get it, some don't. I must admit that I struggled tremendously with the thought of becoming a classic. My family and all of my friends however, made the big day easier to bear. They roasted me somewhat, and said a lot of nice things about me. They probably figured it would be safe to say anything they wanted, true or false, because I'm now licensed to forget. And forget I do! The best part of being this far in the journey is the knowledge that I have made so many wonderful friends over the years. And it takes years to find the quality of friends that I have. But the greatest blessing has been that my children finally understand me, or at least excuse my age-related symptoms. And my wife still loves me. More so than ever. See, aging has its benefits. I don't worry about the AARP enrollment forms that come in the mail. I'm not interested... yet. The aging transition has been subtle when I consider that the joints have hurt me for many years, the vision dimmed a long time ago, and the hair, well at least it's turning gray before it turns loose! And I can use selective, I mean fading, hearing to my advantage. All in all you all have made it a wonderful first half century. Keep up the good work.

Little Things and Close Encounters of the Unexpected Kind

It's been a while since I posted to this blog. I seem to have been trying to fix all the problems of ministry on my other site (see links). The purpose of this blog has been to try to provide inspiration and call to mind simple things that we should appreciate. For instance, last week and then again this morning I was almost involved in head-on collisions along side Lake Tahoe. In both cases vehicles had crossed over the line into my lane. Last week's event was not as close as today's. Today I thought I would be hit. Only by the intervention and grace of God was I spared. Way too close for my comfort! Last weekend, my wife and I were in San Jose, where an impaired driver narrowly avoided side swiping our car! Three events in one week. Wow! Close encounters of the unexpected kind. Makes you appreciate the routine and mundane! But what happens when we can't avoid being hit? Will we blame God? I certainly hope not. God really gets a bad rap from us! Adam and Eve sinned and what did they do? Adam blamed God. Eve blamed the devil. Everybody blamed somebody but themselves. On to little things. We had a great trip last weekend. On the way to speak at a funeral service, we stopped in Santa Rosa to visit with our daughter and her family. (Actually, we went to visit our granddaughter, but since our daughter was there we thought we'd see how she was doing too!) Just kidding. I said that because I know she reads this blog and I wanted to tease her. It is so great to love and be loved. Miles of separation only seems to make the heart grow fonder. All of our children are turning into great, responsible and respectable adults. It's a great pleasure to watch them mature. To all of you, I'm highly proud of you. On the phone our two year old granddaughter talks to us as if she remembers us with detail. However when we visit her she only seems to remember Nana. She's a little unsure of Papa. She knows the voice, but the face.... well, to say it's a little strange may be an understatement! In San Jose we enjoyed the hospitality of my wife's mother. As usual she tried to be as accommodating as possible. Simple breakfasts that are simply great! On to the funeral. It really was a beachfront get-together with a boat ride to scatter the ashes of our dear friend's mother. I knew her mother's name but I asked what she went by. Her three children all said "Mom." To hear their personal tributes to their mother - mom - you would know that they loved her deeply. And that was simply reciprocated love. Other friends were present that we hadn't seen in a while. One in particular was the lady that witnessed this great gospel to my wife. I took a moment and thanked her for sharing her joy and testimony with my wife. She told me that she tells everyone that thinks their marriage is at an end what God did for us 25 years ago. But I was appreciative for more than the reconciliation of our marriage. I told her I was grateful to her because I didn't know how good life could be with Jesus in it. I wouldn't trade these years for all the money in the world. My wife, our sons and daughters. Their husbands and children. The extended family. The friends. The joy of living life with purpose and direction. Amazing grace! It's more than just little things. It's more than just close encounters of the unexpected kind. The little things add up and before you know it you truly cannot count all your blessings. And some of the close encounters lead to some of the greatest encounters imaginable. Keep your eyes on the road. You might be headed in the right direction!