Wind and Thorns

How hard it is to keep a firm ground on something! Like headcoverings… or modest clothes… or generally trying to live better. Unless you really hold on tight to the things God tells you, then it is the most impossible thing in the world to stick to. It’s just not in us to be able to stand the winds and thorns of sin.

Yesterday, I went on a morning walk with my sister and rambunctious dog. I did not want to go on the walk, and only went on it because I like hanging out on Sundays with my sister, who is two years younger and who has always been very close to me. On the way out and to the park that we walked to, I complained and griped, getting more and more frustrated at Annie, since she was pulling extra hard at the leash and making it very difficult to walk. I was so mad. Everything seemed to be going wrong; I wanted to wear another dress, but had to change into walking clothes; I had to put on my hat (the one in the picture); it was extremely winding outside; it was Sunday, and I wanted a laid-back day! Everything was against me. I got a little happier when I got there… until I sat in a patch of stickers and a huge thorny thing. I was about fed up then… And then my hat blew off in the wind, and got several stickers in it too. As I pulled them out of my hat, it made me think (or should I say, God made me think) that it was sort of like me and my headcoverings. When I took headcoverings on in my life, I took a few thorns on too. And like yesterday’s stickers, some of them wont go away so easily. I have to deal with them in a real and painful way.

And there are many other times in my life that I need to take care of the spiritual thorns. And other times when the spiritual winds hit me like they did yesterday, with grains of sand ramming into me like tiny bullets. But I can’t do this alone. I’m not saying that, after the Lord brought that thought to me yesterday, that immediately afterwards I was all better, but I did feel a little less eager to loose my temper.

I’ve recently been going through some struggles, some spiritual thorns. But you know what really helped me—just to go to a good ol’ fashioned worship service. I went to one on Saturday instead of on Sunday this time, but it was great! It was a good sermon too, all about marriage in the way God intended it to be. But the worship was what really woke me up… and I needed it! I really just needed to talk to God. And I haven't been doing that as much recently as I should. Sometimes its good to just be forced into something like that. And even if that sounds a bit strange, I would suggest doing the same—see what happens next. You might be surprised!

 

Shalom