First Baptist Church of Herndon

It's only natural - Powerful

Linda Soller | Aug 18, 2014

When someone you love becomes ill, or a friend suffers a misfortune, or the world news seems particularly bad, it is easy to feel powerless. It’s only natural to want to feel powerful. We want to be able to have things go our way. We want to be able to take care of others, and make a difference. Sometimes our need for power comes from years of finding ourselves in powerless situations. Neglect, abuse, bullying can leave such deep scars. I turn to God and find strength, but I’m not naïve, I know that not everyone does the same. I was listening to the news the other day and was struck by the sadness of what looked like powerless people in war zones, and others in the wake of storms. You know who I mean. These people hide in plain view on mountain tops, they cling to trees in the path of storms because they have no homes, and inside they cry, feeling forgotten. I thought, they seem so powerless.

In nature I think of wind when I think of power. A powerful wind can topple massive trees and crush buildings.  I think of the wind that whips up the ocean driving huge waves to shore and creating white caps across the surface. I also think of the wind that pushes sails swiftly over the tops of lakes and seas. Sometimes it can be loud like the roar of a train. Sometimes the wind is silent and yet, we can feel it on our skin. I love to watch as the wind bends trees ever so gently like they were just big blades of grass. For all the destruction that wind can bring, it can be a giver of life. Seeds float through the air and settle on the ground to take root and flourish. Birds catch a breeze and move about finding food and a safe place to live. Clouds drift effortlessly in a sky of light blue one minute, and roll frantically in a dark stormy sky the next. All this because of the wind.

You see the wind has the power to do good, and to do harm. The wind is a functioning part of nature that moves about the earth uniting all who feel it brush by. We can be much like the wind. Circumstances may make us feel powerless at times, but in reality God has made us all powerful. Example – the wind may blow and still not push the rain clouds where the rain is needed. At other times it’ll push the rain clouds over the dry parched field that waits in cracked silence for moisture. We may try to help someone one day and fail miserably, but the next day we may be the difference in a young life and offer hope. Just as the wind continues to blow, even when it doesn’t deliver the much needed rain, we must continue to try even if we sometimes fail. The wind is powerful and so are we. But here is the big difference. The wind is a result of natural forces and it doesn’t have the ability to decide. We on the other hand can choose what we do with our power.

I was wrong about those people on the mountain. They are not powerless, they are powerful in their will to survive, even exposed on the mountain top. Those homeless people in floods do not give up, but hang on to hope. God has given the wind power, but he has made us to be powerful. What will you do with your power?

Have a great week!  :o)    Linda