Thankful for the Winds, but wanting the Storms to be calmed - Nov. 9, 2012

I love my sweet and caring friends. I have had several people call or e-mail and ask if everything is okay, as I haven’t posted on the blog in a couple weeks. I have posted here and there on Facebook, but the idea of sitting down and writing in the midst of my crazy, busy and quite honestly overwhelming life at times seems like too much. I actually have been considering videoing, but that’s another story.

I am under a serious spiritual attack. I see Satan at work with his crafty plans in my life right now, and so I am seeking the shelter and justice of the Lord. I see that hand in hand the second that I start doing that what the Lord called me to and sticking to His vision and plans for my life, that’s exactly when Satan tries to twist, manipulate and try to knock things down.

I am so grateful for God’s providence, sovereignty, and absolute power even allowing Satan and his schemes to come against me. What you say you are even grateful for Satan’s schemes? Yes, I am. I look at God allowing Satan and his schemes as the wind of opposition here for my growth in the Lord.

Martin Luther said:

And though this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim
We tremble not for him,
His rage we can endure
For low his doom is sure.
One little word will fell him.

“Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

I am alive because of and for the Lord. It is His purpose and His plan for me (and others) to give Him glory. I may screw up often and make mistakes as we all do, but I thank Him for forgiveness and grace when I do make mistakes. I am working on growing my Trust in Him daily and learning time after time that I cannot trust and rely in man or myself. I have to put all my trust in Him first and foremost.

I know “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

So now, think of Satan, his power and His demons like that of the wind. Sometimes soft and slow and ever so gentle in their power and aims and then the strong and scary furious winds that destroy to almost complete desolation like in hurricanes or the most recent great storm that has wiped out the east coast. Winds change and God calms the storms. Today I am asking for mercy in the storm.

The Bio-Dome Lesson

There was a great experiment done in the early 1980's in the American desert, called THE BIO-DOME. It was an exercise in attempting to create the "perfect" living environment for human, plant, and animal life.

A huge glass dome was constructed and an artificial "controlled" environment was created with purified air, water, filtered light, etc, offering the perfect growing conditions for trees, fruits and vegetables ...and humans.

People lived in the Bio-dome for many months at a time and it was wonderful because everything seemed to do well, with one exception. When the trees that had been planted there grew to be a certain height, they would simply topple over.

It baffled scientists for the longest time, until one day they realized the one natural element they had forgotten to recreate in the Bio-dome: Wind! Trees need wind to blow against them, which in turn causes their root systems to grow deeper into the soil, which in turn supports the trees as they grow taller!

What a great lesson from nature we can take from the Bio-dome experiment! Who among us doesn't long for our own "perfect growing environment' with no disruptions from outside influences? We strive to avoid the times of strife and tension - those times when the challenges of daily life push against us - and when they do, our normal tendency is to push back against them, even curse them.

Well, don't be "normal," be "natural!" If the trees could talk, I wonder if we would hear them curse the wind each time they encountered a storm? I doubt it very much. More likely, I believe, we would hear them thank the wind for assisting them in deepening their root system, enabling them to grow stronger and taller. That's nature's wisdom at work.

We can learn a lot from the nature of a tree if we are open the lesson. Watch how a tree bends and sways gracefully when the wind blows against it. It does not stand rigid, resisting the flow of energy. It does not push back. The tree quietly accepts the strong wind as a blessing which helps it grow. Like a tree, we too need "the winds of strife" pushing against us, strengthening us. In those times we can think of God as "the soil" ...the essential foundation upon which we grow our lives.

He gives us the energy we need to grow strong, if we feed on Him, if we hang on tight, flowing with the difficulties of life, accepting them as His way of helping us learn to stand tall. Then we can view the challenges in our lives as blessings. This is why God asks us to "Give thanks in All Things." He knows our needs and allows only the winds that will help us grow strong.
Be flexible, give thanks, grow deep, and you will someday stand tall and upright.

MINDFULNESS PRACTICE FOR TODAY: Look at any challenges - those times of challenge, you may currently have "blowing as gale force winds" in your life and give thanks for them. See them as the wind...and yourself as a tree. Then turn to the Source and deepen your roots into the Truth. That's when our "taproot" draws its life force from the Creator.

I am blessed beyond measure and I am so grateful for the winds of opposition that are here for my growth and benefit as it strengthens my relationship with the Lord. Weather it is cancer, problems at home or work, or even the things that have come against me in my childhood, I know that God has a reason and purpose for it all.

I have to learn to realize that my expectations are often unrealistic and when things don’t turn out the way I wanted them or believed they should have been I need to continue on and Trust the Lord. He has power over the winds.

From Matthew 4: 35

On that day when evening came, He said to them, 'Let us go over to the other side.' Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat just as He was. And other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern asleep on the cushion and they awoke Him and said to Him, 'Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?' And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Hush, be still.' And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?' They became very much afraid and said to one another, 'Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him?'"

Well the simple answer to that question is, "He is God because only God has such power over wind and waves." We shouldn't be surprised about that since we hear the testimony of John in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word," meaning Christ, "and the Word was with God, the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." That is to say that Christ, the Word, is the Creator of everything that exists. If He has the power to create it, He has the power to control it.

I was gonnna insert a song from You Tube here but for wehatever reason it won't pull up so you can go to You Tube and search it out if you are intrested. A sweet young man singing his great original song and reading scripture. Search: Calm My Storm (original Christian song)

Be blessed today. I know I am.
Karri