Winds of Adversity

I felt compelled to share a story this morning of a situation God used to teach me a life lesson. Have you noticed I like life lessons? So very often, God places them right in front of us; we just need to be paying attention.

This story is true and happened when the grandkids were living with us. It was a chilly and gusty school day morning. It was more gusty than chilly. I was standing at the bottom of the hill with the kids waiting for the bus. It comes from a general north direction, so, I was facing the full force of the wind. Donovan had a heavy jacket with a hood, so he simply turned his back to the wind. Daniel had a heavy jacket but no hood; he stood under my arm so his ears would be covered. Sometimes he faced the wind because he just couldn't stand not looking for the bus. Other times he turn his back to the wind, but still under my arm. Douglas had on a light jacket and no hood. He snuggled as close to me as he could and I had both gloved hands covering his ears. Hannah had a heavy long coat with a hood. When facing the wind, she complained about it being in her face. With her back to the wind, she complained about her back getting too cold. Like I said, it was more gusty than chilly, but the north wind made it seem much colder than it actually was.

Here is the life lesson. God stands facing all things in life for us, head on. We have a choice about how we receive that protection and covering from Him. We can choose to stand apart from Him (like Donovan) defiantly turning our back to adversity, which never works because adversity doesn't care which way you face. It will pound you regardless. Or, we can get up under the arm of God knowing we need His protection, but pop out (like Daniel) simply because we do not trust Him enough to watch over our lives for us. We just have to see for ourselves. Or we can (like Hannah) stand apart, in spite of her warm jacket and hood(blessings), complain anyway. She had the longest, heaviest coat of all yet complained and grumbled the most. Or we can (like Douglas) snuggle up to God, reaping the reward of His warmth and protection, trusting Him completely to watch out for us.

The wind was the same on all of us, it was the different ways we reacted to it that made all the difference. The Lord showed me this lesson while out in the chilly wind. His perfect timing allowed me to 'see' what He wanted me to get. I believe, had I been there complaining about having to face the wind and protecting the kids, He would not have not shown me that lesson because I would not have been ready to receive it.

I'm very thankful that the Holy Spirit lives in me and that I've learned to be still and listen for that quiet voice. We CAN & DO drown out the voice of the Holy Spirit when we are caught up in the hustle and bustle of our noisy lives. Today, take the time to be still and just listen. I shudder to think of the lessons I've missed because I was too busy to pay attention.

One short final note, each of the children handled things that morning in true keeping with their character. Your 'Character' is who & how you really are. We can all put on our 'nice face' for the world to see but when faced with the cold wind of adversity, our character jumps out large and refuses to be ignored! Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what people see when they look at you in times of adversity. What does your character say?