Did you ever have big plans to do a project in life that was very important to you, when suddenly you were hit with a big disappointment that just seemed to stall everything? Maybe it was a business venture that you couldn’t seem to get off the ground. Perhaps it was a relationship with that special person that all of a sudden went sour. Maybe at a recent doctor’s appointment, you were given unfortunate news, We’ve all been there if we’ve lived very long and it isn’t a pleasant place to be.
I was raised on Indiana soil and I know first hand of the winter storms of January and February. I’ve felt the winter blasts as I rushed from cold winter days to the warmness of my country home, driven in fog where I could hardly see my way, and slid on icy roads on the way to my school teaching job, actually landing in the ditch a couple of times.
, Life can be exactly like that.
I remember when I was about 12 or 13 attending our Quaker meeting. One morning we had a guest speaker. She was just a mite in stature, but a dynamic personality that delivered a sermon I have never forgotten. It was entitled, What is that in your hand? repeating what God asked Moses out in the lone desert before he embarked on the journey to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt( Ex. 4:2-9) Of course, Moses answered, “a walking stick.” Moses was to use this as an instrument in his future service,
I’ve often remembered this sermon when faced with the storms life brought; storms of disappointment, storms of blinding confusion, storms of illness until I finally learned to stop, pay attention to stillness, then take a look at what was in my surroundings. Often I found it to be a paintbrush to create water colors.or a piano keyboard to teach children to play, a sewing machine to make clothes for my grandaughter’s Barbie doll. Nothing complicated but truly missions of trust until a way was more clear. Some of these activities also led to my future destiny with KAHANA FINE ARTS, our business enterprise in Maui, Hawaii.
We don’t look forward to storms, in fact we avoid them if at all possible, but the fact is storms are necessary. The drifts may prevent us from taking a wrong path, the blast may teach us not to make that decision again, and what a relief when the storm has passed and we can see clearly again,