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Winds
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Winds
I decided to camp at Lakeside Beach State Park in New York. The state park was right on Lake Ontario. The last state park was full and I was starting to worry. I had passed no hotels. Thankfully, Lakeside Beach had vacancies and I drove around to pick out a campsite.
The campground was crowded but there were many lake front campsites available. I wondered why anyone would camp on a site that was not right on the lake if they had a choice. I later found out why.
The first thing I noticed about the state park is that it had nice bathrooms, electricity, running water, and showers. I hope to never take these things for granted again. I also noticed that there was a very nice breeze blowing through the campground.
As I checked in, I wondered aloud why there were so many lake front sites available. I was told that it gets windy on the lake. I asked if my tent would be all right and she said that tonight should not be as bad as last night.
She said there was a “wicked windstorm” the night before. She did say that we were having another windstorm but that it was not supposed to be as bad. I panicked and she assured me that there was no rain or lightning in my future. I relaxed.
I first tried to put my tent on the open grassy area near the lake. I put down the ground cover. When I went to get my tent, the ground cover had blown away. I realized that I should probably move my tent site back a little and into the protection of the two lone trees on my campsite.
The next few minutes were reminiscent of something from a Three Stooges movie. Every time I would leave to go get something, what I had just put down would blow away. I tried to lay out the tent and it blew and wrapped around me. I tried stepping on the ground cover and shaking out my tent and they both wound up around me. As I fought to breathe, I wondered what they would list for the cause of death.
At this point, I was tickled. Until this trip, I never knew that you could “get the giggles” while you were alone. It is very difficult to put up a tent in the wind while laughing hysterically. My neighbors took pity on me and offered to help.
Nine-year-old Brooke and her mother Tina came to my rescue. Brooke was kind enough to mention that her cousin’s tent had blown away the night before. I pictured The Wizard Of Oz and asked if they found her cousin. With a completely straight face, she said that her cousin did not move but the rain cover to the tent moved a very long way. They did finally find it.
Tina and I talked as we put up the tent. Tina is a Christian and she and Brooke attend a small church in her area. Tina is a Sunday School teacher. They have a new minister who likes to preach what she called “fire and brimstone.” Brooke no longer enjoys church and Tina knows why. She said she felt like she was constantly scolded. Before this minister, this church was very loving.
In their religion, their minister is assigned to them. She has visited another church that is very loving and is considering changing churches and religions. We talked about the importance of knowing a God that is love.
“God is love.” 1 John 4:16 (from New International Version)
She feels badly leaving her small church. They depend on her. She is balancing the spiritual needs of her and her daughter against the needs of the church. Please pray for her and the church. Pray for all churches that try to use fear and guilt to force people into a relationship with God.
When we finally had the tent up, Brooke said that I had better stake it down. When Bob and I were camping together, he staked the tent so I was pretty sure I had stakes. Previously, staking the tent had not been necessary for my camping needs. I realized Brooke was right about the stakes and went on a search. Brooke went to get a hammer from her grandfather.
Brooke taught me how to put the stakes in so the tent would not move. Brooke did most of the work. By the time we finished, the wind had increased. The tent looked like it was dancing as it moved back and forth. I moved the car between the tent and the lake but it did not help.
I began cooking supper. Immediately I figured what would stay down and what would blow away. The cooler would stay but a full diet coke blew over. Using a tablecloth was a joke. The grill would stay on the table but the fire would only stay lit in one position. Paper plates and silverware were out of the question. I ate one course at a time with my hands while holding hot food in napkins. I then opened water so I could screw the lid back on. I thought about all of the professional meals I had attended and wondered what my business associates would think of my dining habits. When I remembered how many forks I’ve seen by my plate, I laughed at how few forks you really need.
Brooke was kind enough to come over and play. We took out all of my toys and she enjoyed them as much as I did. I enjoyed watching her chase her cousin with my bubble gun. Many of my friends and relatives have suggested I take a gun on this trip. Bear spray is as violent as I intend to get. I wonder if they would feel better knowing I have a gun that shoots bubbles.
I rode my bike along Lake Ontario talking to God. I felt so blessed.
I set up the computer and wrote for a couple of hours. It was actually quite nice writing with the wind blowing and looking at the waves. The sunset was glorious. My tent continued to sway but stayed put. There are pictures of this experience under New York - Camping - Lake Ontario.
Finally, it was time for bed. As I climbed in the tent, I heard the winds picking up. The noise inside the tent was deafening. I could hear the wind, the noise of the tent blowing against itself, and the roar of ever-increasing surf.
I lay there and wondered what I should do. The wind was so strong that it would get under the tent and I could actually feel my mattress moving. I started remembering all of the wind horror stories I had ever heard. Didn’t wind sometimes blow houses away? My grandmother actually had the wind blow a roof off a house that she was in. I thought again of the Wizard of Oz.
I know nothing about Lake Ontario and tides but I was pretty sure that if grass was growing, water did not usually come up to where I was sleeping. Still, I thought about it.
Each time the wind blew hard, I wondered if it would continue to get stronger or eventually subside. I wondered if this would be the time that my tent collapsed. I planned my strategy for escaping a collapsed tent. I realized I had no idea how hard wind could actually blow.
I tried to remember what the parable was about the house made of straw, sticks, and bricks. Then I remembered it was the story of “The Three Pigs” and was not even in the Bible. I laughed until I cried as I listened to the wind while feeling it move my walls and my mattress. This must have been how the little pigs felt that built the houses of straw and sticks. I pictured my stucco house back home and thought that surely it was the equivalent to brick. I asked God what I was doing in this tent.
I knew the time had come for a choice. I thought about my choices and they seemed to be the following:
1. Pack up and move to a hotel.
2. Empty my car and sleep in the car.
3. Trust God and sleep in the tent.
I considered sleeping in my car but knew that if I took things out of my car, I would be sharing my personal belongings with everyone in the campground. I briefly wondered if my mattress would fit on top of everything in my car. We will just call that “brainstorming.” As in any brainstorming exercise, we try not to judge any idea given. That idea was quickly ruled out.
I considered the merits of packing up and trying to find a hotel. It was dark. Brooke was asleep. I did not think I could get my tent down in the wind alone. Parts of the tent would not make it home with me. I was not worried about the tent. I rationalized that it only cost $50 and I was more important than the tent.
I also pictured trying to find a hotel after 11:00 P.M. It was in the middle of nowhere and I had no idea where to go to find a hotel. I had seen none. Driving late at night lost in New York while tired did not seem very safe. In fact, it seemed riskier than staying in the tent.
I thought of a 4th choice. I could go sit in my car and try to sleep sitting up. I decided that was a backup strategy if my tent really did collapse.
That left going to sleep in the tent. I asked God to stop the wind and he said no. I reminded him that it worked for Jesus and the disciples but he still said no.
The tent had found rhythm. It was a little like being rocked to sleep. I love fans and wind is really a giant fan. It was noisy but it was an even kind of noise. I knew I had made my choice. Once I made my decision, I did not look back. I turned it over to God and went to sleep.
I slept amazingly well considering that the wind never stopped or slowed down. I woke up a few times with my walls touching me and the wind roaring louder than usual. Brooke’s stakes held.
When I got up the next morning, many campers talked about the wind. Brooke said her family was worried that the camper was going to blow ever and crush her cousin sleeping in the tent. Several people had tent disaster stories. Everyone was good-natured about our adventure. It reminded me a little of the giddiness that goes with a hurricane party.
As I lay in my tent, snug in my sleeping bag while hearing all of the turmoil around me, I realized how much life is like that.
Storms are always blowing around us. Life on this earth is difficult. When we hear the turmoil, we do not really know how bad it will get. With each difficulty, we wait and hope it will get better and not worse. Even when we are not having difficulty, people we love are.
The disciples experienced a storm and they panicked. They woke Jesus and he calmed the storm. He scolded them but helped them anyway. He used the storm to lead people to him. He uses the storms in our lives to lead people to him.
“Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We're going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’” (from New International Version) Matthew 8:24-27
Like the disciples, our imaginations run wild. We picture the wind blowing us away. We picture disasters, floods, earthquakes, and poverty. We cannot sleep. We ponder our options. Our brains race. We grow exhausted.
When we turn our life and the outcomes over to God, we snuggle up in our sleeping bags and go to sleep. We are aware of the roar around us but we have a peace that the world does not understand.
We are fully aware that the wind might blow us away. Trusting God is not denial. Christians have the same difficulties that non-Christians have. Faith is knowing that we will be fine regardless of the outcome of the situation. We are safe in God’s arms. Like David in the Bible, we hurry to our “place of shelter.”
“I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm." Psalms 55:8 (from New International Version)
Like Peter, we can walk on water during times of trouble. Like Peter, our faith can sometimes slip. The danger of walking on water is that when you slip, you sink into the water.
Like the sides of my tent touching me and waking me up, the roar in our lives sometimes touches us so strongly that we are jolted out of our peace. Our faith slips as we take our eyes off Jesus.
For a brief moment, we experience what the world experiences without God. Note that while Jesus chastised Peter for his lack of faith, he also saved him once again.
“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’ And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” Matthew 14:29-33 (from New International Version)
It is terrifying as our fears overtake us. Thankfully, God is always available to wrap us snugly in our sleeping bags again. He may chastise but he always helps. What a relief it is to find that peace again and to feel safe, regardless of the outcome.
Loving God does not mean we are safe from harm. It does mean that no matter what happens to us, nothing can separate us from the love of God. That love is sufficient. The more we depend on the love of God, the safer we feel, regardless of our circumstances.
It is not logical. It is faith. People that do not experience it do not understand it. We cannot explain it because it comes from God. We can bear witness that it is real. People can witness our peace. People are drawn to God when they see our faith.
“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 KJV
Are the winds blowing around you? Are you lying awake listening, plotting, and experiencing terror? Give it to God.
The “Best Case/Worse Case” method for giving something to God has been very useful for me. It is described below.
1. List The Extremes
Think of the very best possible outcome in the situation that is troubling you. Think of the very worst possible outcome.
2. Pray
Ask God to help you accept either extreme and everything that lies between those two extremes. Tell God your preferred outcome and humbly ask him to answer your prayer. Pray for his will no matter what and ask that you be able to accept his will with a faith that will bear witness to those around us.
3. List Options For Action
Naturally, you may want to help the best case along. Usually it is best to leave the outcome to God. In some cases, an action may be required. Write down your options.
4. Pray Again
Pray about each option. Ask God for knowledge of his will and the power to carry that out.
5. Listen To God - Figure Out What Your “Instincts” Are Telling You To Do
After prayer, trust your instincts. The Holy Spirit will tell you what to do. Figure out what you think the Holy Spirit is saying. Be honest. Do not let fear or guilt talk louder than the Holy Spirit. Find that place deep inside yourself where truth resides. Trust your instincts.
6. Test Your Answer
Test your instincts against the scripture. God will not act contrary to his Word. Talk over your action with a trustworthy but unbiased Godly person.
7. Take Action Immediately
Once you have an answer, take action. Do not second-guess yourself or God. Do not hesitate. Take action immediately. Step out on faith. Faith without action is dead.
8. Relax
Snuggle up and go to sleep. Let the wind roar around you. You have done everything you can do. Let God be God.
You are safe in the arms of Jesus, no matter what happens. Those arms will carry you through the storms of life. Eventually, those arms will carry you to heaven. Nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:27-29 (from New International Version)
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