I worked hard to get my life together, best as I could, ready to live it up when the wind blasted through, howling, taking down everyone and everything in its path. Every sensible person ran indoors and hid. But not me. My desire to experience life at its peak wouldn’t let me miss whatever was coming with the wind. Rather than save all I had toiled to gather, I risked it all, stepping out despite my fears, ready to embrace this wind that was driving everyone else down.

Vicious, the wind hit my gut, grabbed my trophies, and blew them all away but I held on. The wind beat down my hope and squandered my savings, but I held on. The wind smashed my plans and buried my dreams, but I held on. The wind lashed at my courage and whipped my faith, but I held on. The wind kicked dirt off my feet, poured it in my eyes and nose, but I held on.

Surprised, suspicious, the raging wind pondered, “Who is this? Who is this person who is not afraid to stand in my way? Who is not concerned for all that concerns others? Who is not running after all I am snatching away? Who dares to hope in the ruins that I create?” I got the attention of a careless wind.

The wind was all over me, but I stood though I lost it all. The scary wind could not scare or bury me because I was not afraid to die. I chose to die now than live for less. I chose to die in hope rather than live in fear. The indifferent wind saw something in me and took note. When the wrecking wind encounters someone who is not afraid to die that they might live, the wind bows. The wind embraced me. The wind became me for I didn’t just experience the wrath of the wind, I inherited the life in the wind. I became the wind.

The wind will come after every aspect of our lives at different times. The choice we make each time will determine the quality of life we enjoy in that area going forward. The wind will target our health, our hearts, our loved ones and love life, our career and ministry, our finances, and relationships. Nothing is spared the reach of penetrating wind. The wind will shake, and the wind will sieve. The wind will test, and the wind will prove. The wind will save, and the wind will snatch away. The wind will come, and the wind will change what was, what is, and what will be, so be prepared.

We may not know when and how it will come. We may not know what it will bring and what it will take. Still we can be prepared through a life of surrender to God, so that whenever the wind comes and however it blows, things may be lost but we shall not be lost because of holding onto what has to be taken away. The more prepared we are, the less the shock and havoc we will experience, and the faster we can bounce back after each strike.
(Excerpt from Out of the Ashes Arise by Dr. Glory C. Odemene Out of the Ashes Arise!

Blessings
Glory