Wednesday, October 17, 2018
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Years ago we were just beginning the process of building our Ministry Headquarters. At that point, all that was on this field was the footings for the building and a barn that was on the property. Volunteers were in the process of renovating and weatherproofing that old barn for storage when some friends donated a truckload of office furniture to our ministry. It was going to be a few days before we could bring that furniture into the barn, so we had to leave it next to the barn, which meant it had to be covered to protect it, right?
Well, wouldn't you know, that moment came at a time when I was out of town and there was no one available to get that tarp over the furniture except my dear wife. Yeah, well we're talking here strong and resourceful farm girl, so she thought nothing of it, but getting that tarp up and over all that furniture turned out to be quite a challenge for one person; especially for a woman alone. And she realized that all her pulling and straining wasn't going to do it. She had a wonderful gift from God all of a sudden – a strong wind suddenly came up. Suddenly that wind was lifting the tarp up and over the furniture, just where it needed to go. Isn't that awesome? That wind blew strategically several times until the job was done; leaving my dear wife, and me when I heard about it, again amazed by God.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Wind That Changes Everything."
What an incredible picture of how God gets things done. What a picture of what He wants to do in your life right now; especially in some challenges where all your pulling and straining just isn't getting it done.
Listen to these familiar, encouraging words from our word for today from the Word of God. They're found in Isaiah 40:29, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Okay. You feeling weary? You feeling weak right now? Great! That qualifies you to receive God's strength for your weariness, God's power for your weakness. Isaiah goes on: "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, (Yes, we do. Oh, wait...) but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
I've watched soaring birds; eagles, hawks, and even turkey vultures. I never see them before mid-morning, when the air is warm enough to start rising and creating those thermal updrafts. And those birds don't get where they're going by frantically flapping their wings. They ride the winds of God. That's what my wife ended up doing that day when her efforts couldn't get the job done; she let the winds of God carry her. That's how we're all supposed to live – not frantically flapping our wings, but relaxing and letting God carry us where we could never fly in our own strength.
Some of us are such driven, type-A, "make-it-happen" people (Notice I said us.) that we miss the miracle of being carried by a God who makes it happen. We get all stressed, brittle, frustrated, exhausted, and depleted because we don't allow the God-takeover that's where the power really is.
Paul seemed to understand this mysterious synergy between our effort and God's energy. He said in Colossians 1:29, "I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me." Yes, I work hard, but I'm doing it in His strength, His energy, not mine.
I just can't forget that picture of my wife struggling with that tarp by the barn and a wind from God suddenly lifting what she couldn't carry, moving what she couldn't move, helping her do what she could have never done otherwise.
You know what? The wind of God is blowing your way today to lift you, to empower you, to do what you have not been able to do. You see, it's the wind of God that changes everything!