It is springtime in Oklahoma. Why just a couple of days ago a tornado whipped through the town of Hammon in western Oklahoma. We were enjoying the life-giving rain that is so desperately needed for us to have good crops, and plenty of water so when the wind blows the fields won’t be so dry they spontaneously erupt in wildfires. Isn’t Oklahoma grand?

I was talking with someone today who was originally from Detroit, Michigan who said he had received a call from a friend who reported the first snowfall in Detroit this winter only last week. He laughed and reported we had seen almost 20 inches of snow this winter. There is a message in all this for us.

I often think of our changing weather here in Oklahoma as a representation of the Spirit of God. The scripture says “the wind blows where it will” in John 3. It almost sounds like the scripture is speaking of Oklahoma when this is written. “You cannot tell where it comes from it where it is going” is what the scripture says. I recall many times when the wind is whipping around when I am outside. Moreover, I can recall times when the wind was bothersome to me. It caused me to even become angry when the wind blew and I was trying to rake leaves, or the wind was blowing extremely hard and causing the work I was trying to do to be more difficult. Maybe it was “The Spirit” trying to get me to pay attention. The scripture then says, “so it is with everyone that is born of the Spirit.”

As the spring roars in this year in our fair state, I challenge you to look for the Spirit in the wind. It is always there, doing as it wishes. We can’t stop it, but maybe we can learn from it. The wind is not partial to who it touches, it reaches out to all of us. The wind is sometimes cold, and sometimes hot. What is the wind of the Spirit saying to you as you walk through this journey we call life? Is the Spirit bothering you for a reason? Are we needing to pay attention to what the Spirit is guiding in our lives? Remember, we do live in Oklahoma. Could it be that we need an early warning system to help us discern what the wind is saying? If we listen to the Spirit we will be ahead of the storm. Wouldn't’t it be great to enter some of the storms in our lives knowing we were prepared for the outcome?

I challenge you to prepare for the storms of your life the way you prepare for the spring storms that come to Oklahoma. I pray your life is filled with places of shelter which guard you from the storms. Let First Church be one of those shelters. Let your small group be one of those shelters. Let your Sunday School class be one of those shelters. To borrow a line from Rick Mitchell, “We’ll keep you ahead of the storms!”

Grace and peace,
Kirk