As most of you know, Jason, my dad and I (and some other faithful friends) have spent the past several weeks working on repairs around our old house. I have to say, it was a lot of hard work, but the results are certainly worth it. I don’t remember the house ever looking so beautiful. One of the last steps that remain is to replace the storm windows which we had to remove so that we could scrape and paint the windows underneath. In a way, we hate to put the storm windows back up because they’re not the most attractive things, and right now, the windows look so good, but we know that the storm windows will add an extra layer of insulation plus give us access to screens should we choose to open the windows (which I frequently do in the spring and fall).
Anyway, we wanted to give all the paint ample time to dry before washing down all the windows a final time then replacing the storm windows. So, for the past month or so, the storm windows have been leaned against the fence waiting for the right time to be reinstalled. That is until we had the heavy winds on Saturday which knocked two large stacks of windows over, breaking at least two of them into a million pieces. Seriously?
Unfortunately, I am the one to blame for the catastrophe because I’m the one who stacked the windows in place. I had done it very carefully, and for several weeks now, they had fared just fine. What happened? The winds of adversity blew, and they couldn’t withstand it. Why? Because they weren’t leaning as much as I thought they were. Yes, upon careful exploration, I discovered that the windows were somewhat leaning against the fence but still standing upright too much to withstand the force of the wind. The result? Destroyed windows and a big mess!
That sounds a bit too familiar, doesn’t it? Have you ever thought you were leaning on the Lord only to discover that, as soon as the winds of strife blew, you were knocked completely off your feet? Did you ever think you were leaning on God only to discover, upon further exploration, that you were standing on your own two feet far more than you realized? Have you ever found yourself knocked down and broken because you were too weak to withstand the winds of adversity? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then you can relate to my poor windows and thousands of other Christians around the world.
You would think leaning would be easy, but it’s not. However, it is necessary if we want to prevail against the storms of life. The winds will come. We know this. The rains will pour. Life is a series of valleys, and unless we’re leaning on Jesus, allowing Him to hold us up, not only will we fall but we will fall apart. If we want to stay standing, we must lean. It’s the only way to withstand the storm.
As the Lord brought this lesson to mind this morning, I couldn’t help but thank Him for the mighty things He shows me through the most unusual circumstances. It’s just a shame it cost me two good windows, but, hey, if that’s what it takes to get my attention, then so be it. Better broken windows than a broken life!
And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee. - II Chronicles 14:11
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