Powerful winds - Devotion for 5/24/07

Powerful winds – Devotion for 5/24/07

On the night of November 28, 1988, a powerful F4 tornado (on the Fujita scale that goes from F0 to F5) struck Raleigh, NC. At that time I was a high school senior in Raleigh, and my father was the pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church in north Raleigh. I’ll never forget that night as the phone rang late in the evening as we were all in bed. Living in the home of a minister, I was somewhat accustomed to phone calls that came in the night informing my dad that someone had died, someone was taken to the emergency room, or someone had been arrested. Whenever I heard the phone ring in the night there was always that uncomfortable feeling that something bad had happened, and this night was no different. The phone call that my dad received was from a church member who lived directly beside the church. The member called to tell dad that a tornado or something had just come through, and when he looked out his window the church was no longer there. My dad, my mom, and myself got into the car and tried to drive through the downed power lines and trees and ultimately we could not believe our eyes as we saw first hand the devastation. The sanctuary was almost completely leveled. What once was a huge brick building was now a scattered mess of bricks.

When the sun was finally up we were able to truly begin to get an understanding of the power of the wind that night. Two of the mobile units the church had used were completely gone – nowhere to be found. The tornado hit the sanctuary at the front wall, and on that wall was a wooden cross. As the twisting storm winds hit that wall, the wall appeared to have just crumbled over. Yet in the midst of all the mess, the wooden cross that was up on that front wall had not fallen “face down.” Instead, somehow the wind twist the cross and it fell “face up” – and in the light of the day, not one of us could find a mark on that cross. As we explored the ruins, at the back of the sanctuary was a kitchen. The back wall had also crumbled, yet amazingly the shelving remained standing – it was as if the tornado had said “this far, and no further” – leaving the coffee cups stacked up in the cupboard with no back to it due to the wind. Later the rest of the building ultimately had to be torn down, finishing the work that the tornado began.

I guess what struck me as so interesting was how long it took just to finish what the tornado had begun. Bulldozers and other heavy equipment had to come out just to knock down the back wall. It took at least a day or two to finish what took the storm on a few seconds to do. In Zechariah 4:1-14, the Lord is giving encouragement to Zerubabbel. This vision is addressing the completion of the temple, and in a time of uncertainty whether or not it would be completed, God gives this word: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubabbel saying ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubabbel you will become a plain, and he will bring for the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’” I really love that line “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit.” It makes me think of how hard the workers had to work just to finish what had been done by the wind – they had to use all their might and powerful machinery to accomplish just part of what had already been done in an instant. I also love the part about how the mountain will be flattened and become a plain before Zerubabbel. In line with the image of the tornado, it just reminds us of the mighty power of God.

I guess the reason I’m talking about tornados and Zerubabbel (say that name real fast) is that I believe so many times we still try to stop the wind and live by our might and power. Fear of the wind seems to be a constant (see Psalm 107:27-32; see disciples on the boat; see Peter walking on water until he noticed the wind). We fear the wind because we don’t know what it will do, and we don’t know where it will blow us. And so we try to build up barriers to resist the wind, and stay safe where we want to be. The thing is, if God wants you to be somewhere, He will bring a storm to get you there if you won’t go there on your own. As we approach Pentecost, tear down the barriers to the wind – experience the power of the Spirit, and let it empower you to tear down mountains. Use the power of the wind, and we will see God’s glory. It is not by our might, not by our power, but by His Holy Spirit.