The Way the Wind Blows

After two different days of 50-60 mph wind gusts, our yard has become a mini obstacle course for the squirrels. There are long, Silver Maple branches, knobby knotted oak limbs and a variety of fall foliage tossed about like a wood salad. Maybe it was growing up in the south with annual tornado watches and warnings, but I detest high winds. I actually experienced a tornado touchdown within 1 block of where I was driving in Florida several years ago and the sound of an oncoming train still provokes me to dive for cover.

While I was surveying the damage to neighboring yards on the way to my in-law's last week, my husband said "Lord, blow the dead branches off of my life." Scott's comment has echoed in my heart ever since he said it. What's in my life that is a "dead branch?"

Only God can answer that question for each of us on a personal level. The branches that ended up on the ground were either detached from the tree to begin with, sick or diseased limbs, or extensions of the tree that didn't receive the water and nourishment it needed to thrive. When high winds shake a tree like a maraca, most of those limbs will come down.

The "winds of change" that blow across my life can cause me a lot of fear (like the tornadoes) or major frustration (since change is not comfortable sometimes). But I'm now inviting the winds to blow...

I know I'll feel the pressure of its push, the force of its persistence and the inability to know what will remain once it has passed through. But a God-sent wind is different than Satan's. Satan always means to kill and destroy while God is a life-giver...and that in abundance. If there are any "dead" extensions, sick sinful attachments, heavy weights not given by the Lord, and unnecessary burdens, I want the Lord to blow. No matter what form that practically means in my life...God knows the branches that need to come down...and the tree will be much healthier and able to thrive and grow in the spring.

Heb 12:1 Therefore...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us...

John 15:1b "...my Father is the husbandman."