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December 30, 2024
- By Ed Powell
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"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
The winds of life blow in both directions. Sometimes with the wind to our back circumstances we encounter are encouraging, helpful, and inspiring. They push us forward with renewed vigor and determination. Then there are times when we live with the wind blowing fiercely in our face. These are the times when adversity, trials, and devastating circumstances almost consume us, and we find ourselves leaning hard upon the faithfulness of God in child-like trust.
When we are loyal and committed to God, we can rest in His providential care, His interceding for us, and His plan and purpose in our lives. So often we look at our circumstances as if God had no part in engineering them. "God certainly can't be in this"...and we relate to them with indifference, and respond as if they were coincidental. It is "in all things" that God designs His purpose for our lives. Not all things are pleasant, but they are necessary to "bend our heart and will" to be "conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:28-29).
Peter tells us that "the trial of our faith is precious" (1 Peter 1:7). When the winds of life blow in our face, God may be working to impart, or bring to maturity, His grace within our lives. In either situation, we can take comfort that His hand of grace and love is upon us for our good and His glory.
How imperative it is for us to be sensitive to the "working of the Holy Spirit" within our lives. How merciful and gracious God is to awaken us, prompt us, and penetrate our hearts when we need to align our lives anew to His will. Thus, the "winds of the Spirit" blow within us to focus our hearts once again on HIM alone.
Oswald Chambers wrote, "God does not give us overcoming life. He gives us life as we overcome. God never gives strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the moment." It is in common practical everyday things that God wants to reveal to us His overcoming mercy and grace. Oh, that we might see His hand in ALL things. However the winds may blow, to the believer, it is the Lord that is in control. So let it blow as it will, for "HE doeth all things well, and will perfect, and bring to maturity, that which He hath begun" (Philippians 1:6).
As the winds of life blow, we need an intense narrowing of our interests and concerns on earth, and enlarge our devotion to God. We need to refine the direction of our heart, concentrate on His will in our life, and seek to surrender every phase of our life to the control of His lordship. Then the interweaving of the "tapestry of our life" will reflect the beauty of His design and reveal the magnitude of His abounding grace.
The cords of His choosing will include the dark colors that take us into distressing and difficult times. But these form the background and serve to highlight the glorious colors that radiate His care and compassion for us. May we yield to the "winds of the Spirit," that we may be all He wants us to be, and the channel of blessing through which the Holy Spirit can flow freely and fully for His glory.
"He bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures" (Jeremiah 51:16).
© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission.
This page was reprinted by permission from: http://litmin.org/dare.php?date=2024-12-30&print=1
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