Can You Sleep When the Wind Blows?

Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.  He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. 

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.   Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him.  "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.  Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hiredhand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up!  A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"  The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows." 

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot.

Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred.  The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.  Nothing could blow away.  The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

MORAL: When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically,  you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?  The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.   We, as believers in Christ, secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God.  We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the midst of the storms.  I hope you sleep well!    Enjoy the day! May God Bless You and Yours

The Cliffhanger

A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and, to his horror, he saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet. He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was not way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something. "Help! Help! Is anyone up there? Help!" he yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice.

"Jack, Jack can you hear me?"

"Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!"

"I can see you, Jack. Are you alright?"

"Yes, but who are you, and were are you?"

"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere."

"The lord? You mean God?"

"That's me."

"God, please help me! I promise if you'll get me down from here, I'll stop sinning. I'll be a real good person. I'll serve You for the rest of my life."

"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's get you off from there; then we can talk. Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully."

"I'll do anything Lord. Just tell me what to do."

"Okay. Let go of the branch."

"What?"

There was a long silence. Finally Jack yelled, "Help! Help! Is anyone else up there?"

Have you ever felt like Jack? We say that we want to know the will of God, but when we find out what it is, we can't handle it. Sounds too scary--too difficult. We decide to look elsewhere. When He says, "Let go of the things that stand between you and Me, and trust Me with your life," it sounds pretty scary. But when we let go, we find freedom and safety in His hands.

"No eyes have ever seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

                                                 SO JUST LET GO, AND LET GOD!

A Cure For Fear

What are you afraid of? Being alone; flying the friendly skies; getting old; getting sick; death; having no friends; not accomplishing your goals; giving up on your dreams; life's inconsistencies or life itself? Our greatest enemy is fear! Strange as it may seem, we even fear, fear! I've had and still continue to have fears that I am trying to conquer. So writing this post will be easy because I am going to keep it real and personal. I am sure that many of you will be able to identify with my fears as you may have some of the same ones that I do. It is my prayer that I will touch upon something that will cause you to think.

2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirt of power, of love and of self-discipline." This tells me that the Lord gave us the power to overcome fear. Our spirits should not be timid, but so disciplined until we operate in love with all that we do. The Lord is with us in all our trials, we should not be afraid to face them. To fear is to place an unnecessary burden on ourselves when all we need to do is trust in the Lord. "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." Proverbs 29:25.

I understand how hard it is to overcome fear. I truly understand how hard it is to 'let go and let God'. For years I've struggled with the thought of being alone as I grow older. I struggle with the reality that when my youngest daughter finally leaves home, it'll just be me in that big condo...alone. I struggle with the loneliness that engulfs me everyday when I come home from work and sit and eat alone and watch television alone and retreat to my bedroom alone. I struggle with paying bills and cry from seeing a paycheck I works so hard for and take so much ugliness from the world to earn, be absorbed by bills and I then wonder how I am going to make it though the next two weeks until I get paid again. I struggle with the thought of failing health. I struggle with the fact that I have no friends in the city I live in, and sometimes my phone doesn't ring for days except for solicitors. I struggle a lot with trying to find things to do to keep my mind occupied so that I won't be consumed by feat. I struggle with the thoughts of something horrible happening to my children, grandchildren, or other close family members. I struggle with the thought of not fulfilling my goals, or realizing my dreams.  My struggles are ALL fears...so are yours! Fears that at some point have utterly consumed me and taken my focus away from where it should be...above. David knew and encourages us where to put our trust. "When I am afraid I will trust you. In God, whose word I praise. In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4