Stormy winds

Last weekend there were some powerful gusts of wind beating against my house.  Unusually, none of them disturbed the wheelie bins, but one, or more, somehow got under the roofing felt on the shed and ripped half of it away.  It was only re-done last Spring too!

 

A day or two later, after the winds had died down and the rain had stopped, and the roof had had a chance to dry out a bit, I set about doing some emergency repairs which will, I hope, last until the winter is over.  Clambering happily about on the roof, hammering in lots of clout nails and trying to avoid my fingers, I was musing on the power of the wind and how impossible it is for us to control it.   Yet the Psalmist speaks of the ‘stormy wind, fulfilling His word.’ (Psalm 148:8a) 

And then, of course, my mind went to the Lord Jesus, asleep in a boat on the Sea of Galilee:

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples.  And He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.”  And they launched out.  But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”  Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, “Where is your faith?”  And they were afraid, and marvelled, saying to one another, “Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!”  (Luke 8:22-25)

Isn’t it comforting to know that He is in control?  Not only of the winds that blow in the natural world, but of the winds that assail us in the storms of life.  Indeed, they too are fulfilling His word!  And always He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.  A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.Isaiah 32:1-2 

O safe to the Rock that is higher than I

My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;

So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine would I be;

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee!

 

In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow’s lone hour,

In times when temptation casts o’er me its power,

In the tempests of life, on its wide heaving sea,

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee!

 

How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,

I have fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe!

How often, when sorrows like sea billows roll,

Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul!

 

Hiding in Thee!  Hiding in Thee!

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee!

 

William O Cushing