Wind

Have you ever heard the beginning of the Irish blessing: "May the wind be always at your back...[?]"  I always took it to mean that since it's rough going against the wind, the person is wishing that the wind be helping you at your back instead of hindering you from the front.  It took on a slightly different meaning for me today.

I've been really tired today, but disciplined myself to take my walk anyway (I've found discipline to be a tremendous helper in being intentional), partly in the hopes that getting my blood flowing would help energize me.  As I labored through my brisk walk, the wind blew to and fro.  I was battling self-focus - not especially successfully - and God seemed to wait until I was paying attention.  As I looked down at the well-worn path at my feet, the wind gathered some scattered dry leaves and skittered them across the ground from behind me to dance along in front of me as I continued to walk.  It brought to mind my poem in Blossoms and the idea I wrote about in Rain:  God is the force behind the wind and leaves He sent to dance for me.  It was His reminder that He is in control of all things, and that - whether He calls the wind to my back or my front - He is the strength that will keep me going.  God is the wind at my back.

I am thankful that He used wind to remind me of His sovereignty in the midst of my struggle today.  I won't say, "May the wind be always at your back..." because God uses the wind both ways - and both are for our good.  I do pray that you (and I!) be intentional about practicing His presence and will in our lives.