The North Wind

The wind couldn’t make up its mind today.

 

All was calm when I woke up this morning. The lake had become a mirror, reflecting the grey sky and dark forest in vivid clarity. There was a soft mist brushing my face in the stillness as I went on my morning run.

 

At breakfast, there were small ripples in the water, the imprint of a barely detectable east wind. An east wind typically means rain, while south breezes are rare but warm and playfully swirl across the lake. When south breezes blow in the spring, they bring the hope of melting, thawing, and a coming out of hibernation.

 

As I peeled and sliced a kiwifruit for my lunch, the wind was noticeably coming from the west – a usually reliable indicator of good weather. By mid-afternoon, the wind had decided to blow vigorously from the north, transforming the water into a churning mass of white-tipped waves.

 

A north wind is unlike the other winds. It is cold and harsh. It only blows in the summer after a cold front has moved through. When it begins to blow in September, it heralds the arrival of fall, which will soon be followed by months of snow, ice, and bitter cold. Its powerful “whoosh” slaps the side of the house, bends the trees beneath its weight, and forces us inside with its foreboding coldness.

 

Yet the north wind and the cold of winter, however unpleasant, still don’t stop the people of the northland. They simply adapt. Coats come out of the closet, hats and gloves are pulled out of drawers, and boots are bathed with waterproofing spray. Everyone adds an extra fifteen minutes to departure time to clean off and warm up their cars.

 

Perhaps the reason most of us stick it out every winter is the hope of spring. It may be late some years, but spring never fails to come. We know that the snow will melt, the blizzards will stop, the rains will come, and the flowers will bloom again.

 

A dear sister of my heart is going through a winter period in her life right now. The winter is hard. Its cold chills the soul. The waiting is long. It has a way of shaking one’s confidence – in God and His promises. One wonders, “How long, Lord?”

 

When my leaves fall, wilt Thou encompass them?

The gold of autumn flown, the bare branch brown,

The brittle twig and stem,

The tired leaves dropping down –

Wilt Thou encompass that which men call dead?

I see the rain, the coldly smoth’ring snow;

My leaves, dispirited,

Lie very low.

So the heart questioneth, white winter near;

Till, jocund as the glorious voice of spring,

Cometh His “Do not fear,
But sing; rejoice and sing,

For sheltered by the coverlet of snow

Are secrets of delight, and there shall be

Uprising that shall show

All that through winter I prepared for thee.”

 – Amy Carmichael

 

God is there in our winters. He does not leave us alone in the cold wind. He comforts us, upholds us, and protects us as we hide under the shadow of His wings. The spring will come. Fresh, new growth and blossoms will come out of the barren, dry period. He will be victorious over the winter and He will be glorified.

 

“You were like a leafy bush, and many little things came to you for shelter.

You were not great or important, but you could help those little things.

And it was the joy of your life to help them. Now you cannot do anything

at all. Some desolation, illness, poverty or something that you cannot talk

about has overwhelmed you, and all your green leaves have gone. You are

like this bush with its bare twigs, no use to anyone – that is what you think.

 

When will the spring come? When will your bush be green with leaves again?

When will the little birds you love come back to you? I do not know.

Only I know that sun and snow are working together for good, and the day

will come when the very memory of helplessness to help and bareness

and poverty and loneliness will pass as a dream of the night,

and all that seemed lost will be restored. Now, in the multitude of the

sorrows that you have in your heart, let these comforts refresh your soul.

They will not fail you for He will not fail you who is the God of the sun and the snow.”

 – Amy Carmichael, Figures of the True

The north wind can be unrelenting and we can be disheartened. Everything may seem lost, out of our control, and helpless, but God has not left. He has not forgotten and He will never forsake. He looks down on us with infinite loving-kindness and asks us to simply trust. Trust that He is working in our winter, bringing us closer to Him, and stripping us of self. Trust that He is in control. Trust that His plans for us are to prosper. Trust that He is good, faithful, and perfect in love. Trust that even when everything has fallen to pieces, He is more than enough. Trust that His word is true and His promises sure.

 

“The spring will come again, for after winter there is always spring."

 – Amy Carmichael