The Wind in the Desert

Texas may not get a lot of rain, but there is definitely something they do get a lot of, and that's wind!  It blows so hard and so warm and so unexpectedly that it literally will almost knock you to your feet.  I just spent the last hour sitting out by the pool. It was heavenly.  Although I'm reasonably certain I came away with a slight burn!
As I sat there, basking in the sun, allowing the warm wind to blow over me refreshingly, I began to laugh.  Every now and then the wind would blow so hard that it would sprinkle me with tiny droplets of water from the fountain in the pool. It was always so unexpected that it would take my breath as it hit me, but, boy, did it feel good!
All of a sudden, I saw God in that wind. I'm sitting in the desert, really in the middle of nowhere (Midlanders joke that that's how it got it's name: Midland...because it's the middle of nowhere!). The ground is dry, the air is dry, it's hot, and then, out of nowhere (literally) there's this refreshing wind that I can't see, but it surrounds me.
Billy Grahm once said, "you can't see the actual wind, but you can see the effects of the wind." You can feel it on your skin, in your hair, you can see it in the trees and watch it moving things. Scripture compares the Spirit of God to wind on several occasions.

Friend, whoever is reading this right now, I just want to encourage you that, anywhere you are, even in that "Midland dry desert" place of your life, God is also there.  His wind blows over you, encompassing you, surrounding you, and reminding you that He's there.  You may not always be able to see HIM, but you can always see the effects of Him!
I've been blown away this weekend by seeing the effects of God blowing through my life. I am humbled by the fact that this huge God, who commands the wind and the rain, who controls the days, cares enough about me to show me that He loves me, that He wants to be part of my life, that He's wrapped up in my days.
And He's wrapped up in yours.  You may not always notice Him there. But He is there, working and blowing, and loving. 
Look for the wind, and take comfort from it!

Out of the Dust...

Here in Texas, where we've been the last two days, everything is dusty. And pretty dead looking! We are in the middle of the desert, after all! I asked our driver today if the grass every got any greener than the brown mess that it was right now? She laughed and said, "No, pretty much not! But you get used to it." She went on to tell us that they receive, on average, only 11 inches of rain or less per YEAR!  I'm reasonably certain that we got that much rain in Tennessee in two days last week!  The dust and dirt is not a pretty thing here, and the Texans have a good sense of humor about it, which is good, because I don't see it changing anytime soon!
When we got to the service tonight the opening song was "Beautiful Things". If you've never heard this song, you have to go online and listen to it! I was immediately reminded of the drive over there, looking at the dusty ground outside.  I'm listing the lyrics below. Please take a moment to read the words...

All this pain
I wonder if I'll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change
at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden spring up from this ground
at all?

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found
in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

As I sang these words tonight, they resonated in my heart. I thought of the dry, dusty ground outside, where technically it's virtually impossible for pretty vegetation to spring from.  Then I looked in my own heart, and was humbled as I remembered the dry, dusty, dirty ground that used to be there...until God.  As I sang those words, I was brought back to a time of desperation in my life, when I cried out to God from my desert of deadness, and He took it, and He made it beautiful. He did it. Out of the dust of my deadness sprung hope, and life, and beauty. Then, a speaker tonight used this verse and my heart broke in renewed desperation, as I heard and felt the water that God was pouring on my soul.
Ecclesiates 3:11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

This "dust" thing is by far not the theme of this conference, but it was definitely the theme that God had for me tonight. I had forgotten what it meant to be desperate for Him, to need His living water.  I forgot that I walk in a desert in this world, and that, though my life is changed, that dust is all around me.  I "got used to it", just like the Texans here get used to it being everywhere. Only by tapping in to His water can my soul stay watered. I had forgotten that desperation.  And in the meantime, a layer of dust had again began to accumulate on my beautiful thing.
The last part of that verse, to me, means that we can never fathom the work that God is doing in our lives. But, as long as he gives me another breath, it means that He's not done with that work in me. Therefore, I need to be desperate for Him, just like these Texans are desperate for rain to water their land and keep it from dying out completely. 
The song says that out of chaos life is being found...but only in Him! I have to be desperate, because this life IS chaos, and a desert, and only when I'm desperate will I stay where my soul can be watered by the One who makes it beautiful. 
I love how the last stanza of the song says not only has He MADE me new, but He's also still making me new, every day. I have to be desperate for Him. I WANT to be so thirsty for Him on a daily basis that I notice the smallest dry spell! 
Because He makes beautiful things out of the dust.
As long as I stay close to the source of the water, be deliberate about my choices, and let Him wash away all the dust!