Contrary Winds

Most mornings I go out early for a "run" -- okay jog or fast walk may be a more accurate description... Most mornings I really enjoy this time. It is usually early enough that it's still very quiet outside. Many times the stars and moon are still out, and it's just a beautiful, quiet time that I use to pray and get focused for the day. Today, however, was not one of those mornings. Today, this aging "earthen vessel" was a bit more stiff and achy than I care to admit. Today, no matter which direction I was running, a strong wind was almost always blowing against me. When the strong wind would subside briefly, the humidity literally took my breath away! It was not a pleasant outing today. I didn't feel the benefit of my run that I usually enjoy. It was rather torturous today, and quite honestly, it made even praying a bit more of a challenge...

As I was running and considering all these things, it made me think how much my morning "runs" illustrate this life journey we are in. There are those seasons in life when it seems that no matter which direction we turn, the winds are contrary. In Acts 27, Paul describes a sailing journey from Sidon to Cyprus in which the "winds were contrary". He uses such language as "the wind, not suffering (allowing) us", "sailing was now dangerous" "tempestuous winds", "exceedingly tossed", "no small tempest lay on us", "all hope that we should be saved was then taken away", and he even eludes to a wind that seemed soft, but was deceiving. It was a journey fraught with trials that ended in a shipwreck. The good news? Paul was able to be a strong testimony of the power of God through this tumultuous journey. He was not traveling alone. There were many others taking the same journey as he. However, they did not know his God. Though Paul suffered the same trials of the trip, he did so with a different perspective, and thus was able, in the end, to demonstrate his God to the unbelievers on this journey. Though the journey ended with a destroyed ship -- the vehicle in which they traveled, "it came to pass they escaped all safe to land". Oh, there are so many great lessons in this story! My question, then, is how do we run the journey of life when the winds are contrary? Do we keep going when we perhaps aren't "feeling" the same feeling we normally enjoy? Do we "jump ship" when things get a bit stormy and we're scared or do we wait until God allows us to take others off of their traveling vessel and bring them onto His? Do we quit praying just because it's a little more difficult to breathe and focus and we perhaps don't "feel" the power in our prayer in the same way? Winds or no winds, God is God. Storm or no storm, He doesn't change. His power persists in every season of our lives. Will we choose to persevere and allow His power to be demonstrated through us in the seasons of contrary winds? By God's grace, I pray my life will mimic Paul's in this regard. Happy sailing, my friend!