Blowing winds

Tomorrow, at least here in the South, we are finally going to feel a taste of fall! I love fall. I can hardly wait to push open all my windows and feel a nip in the air, the cool breeze filling the rooms of my home. Watching the wind blow the leaves off the trees and then, when almost to the ground, the wind catching them and making them swirl is something I could watch for hours. It makes me happy! ""Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days." Leviticus 23:40

Wind is an interesting part of nature. When I was a child we lived in Taiwan. I remember several typhoons (same thing as a hurricane but in the Pacific) hitting the island while we lived there. Recently, I found a journal entry my mama had made about a cat 3 typhoon named Carla from October 1967. Her two page entry sparked my interest and so I looked up the particulars. What struck me the most was the winds...185 mph. I remember being so scared of the wind and the debris that swirled around...anything and everything that was outside. I have a vivid memory of seeing a large metal sign being tossed about like a leaf from a tree. It brought back memories of how afraid I was as a child and still afraid today of wind associated with storms. The howling and whistling, the trees bending like their branches want to touch the ground, the water that is pushed down the road and everything that is not tied down blown to a new location. And just writing about it I am sitting here holding my breath. BREATHE  Trina BREATHE! When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth, He makes lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from his storehouses. Jeremiah 10:13

The visuals of the wind swirling leaves to the ground and the wind being even more forceful to the extent of picking up metal signs, pulling trees out of the ground, blowing off roofs of buildings, and even reparking cars can be compared to some of the tough times in life. In those weather storms we need to breathe and be...breathe and be prepared in the appropriate ways. And as with stormy weather, in those stormy seasons of life we need to breathe. We are able to breathe when we are prepared but what does that mean? We all know what we need for those weather events...water, gas, flashlights, canned goods, extra batteries...we all know the items on the list.

But spiritually how can we be prepared so that we can breathe? The most important is our faith. We need to trust God so much that we just know that he has whatever we are going through. And that is a continual work, day by day, hour by hour. We need to believe that God always has a reason for our trials and tribulations and it starts with that. We need to know that there is always a reason...it may not be a reason we can comprehend with our current level of understanding but God has a reason for everything. Okay, take a breath with me! We need to believe that as much as we believe we are going to wake up in the morning!

And then we can accept where we are. Is it an illness, a loss of a loved one, a bad marriage, no marriage at all, wanting a family, loss of a job? And this applies to the smaller things in life that keep us in knots...fears and anxiety...of crowds, of the dentist, of big city traffic, of storms, of things that go bump in the nigh,. If we truly believe God has a reason for everything then it is much easier to accept where we are. When we accept where God has us in life then we can surrender that to him. We can give over that illness, that bad marriage, and yes, those storms with their powerful winds to God. And then, my dear brothers and sisters we can feel ourselves breathing. We can take a deep breath, get our hearts out of our throats and breathe!

This starts to open us up and we can then pray. Prayer is so powerful and I know this from experience. And pray a loud!! You can't speak out loud and hold your breath; you just can't. Prayer honors God but it also helps you as a release. It opens you up and gives God a chance to minister to you so pray...often and consistently.

While you are praying, and even when you aren't, look for the help of the Holy Spirit. Look for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, acknowledge the Holy Spirit and be fully open to where his leading takes you. Let the Holy Spirit blow across you like those wonderful fall breezes and let him stir things in you that will grow you just like you stir the leaves to the ground.

And finally, on our preparedness list is ACTION! We need to take action instead of holding our breaths but I said action not control. Leave God in the control seat and work with God in our thoughts, actions, and behavior.  The smallest change in our thoughts can make a world of difference, and the same with our behavior and actions...and whose mother hasn't told us that when we were being raised! LOL! And when we get busy jumping into action you will find you are breathing and your heart isn't beating out of your chest.

So, I realize that this is another long post. Not all my posts will be as long as these first two...or maybe they will be. I just write what God puts on my heart so please continue to read because I have assurance that even if my post is long God has a purpose and a reason for leading me in the words contained in this post. Let's pray for each other. Let's pray that our faith will grow into something big, and deep, and wide and that with each passing day we can breathe and be...in the arms of our Father and that will become our norm.

"For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the LORD GOD of hosts is His name." Amos 4:13