Minding the Spirit

"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you."  -Romans 8:9

"God speaks so through all living things.  Last time it was through a rushing mighty wind that filled the valley.  The trees took it in such a different way."  Lilias Trotter went on to describe how the juniper would sway back and forth but spring back instantly to their former position.  The eucalyptus, however, "had every leaf so posed that not a breath passed unheeded--while a little gust would ripple and toss their heads about, and a stronger one would sway their very centers.  When the breath died down, instead of a willful rebound like the junipers, they would just relax and hold still--still enough to catch again the first whisper of the wind."

Lilias saw this as a "picture of the 'minding of the Spirit' which is 'life and peace,' while the junipers stood in control as those who 'minding the things of the flesh' are 'not subject unto the law of God.'"

There are times when I am outside that a gust of wind will rustle the leaves in a tree suddenly, then stop just as suddenly.  To me it feels as though a host of angels have just passed by.  Then there are other times the wind whips the bare branches about so violently that I will hear a loud CRACK and look out to see a branch down on the ground.  It was healthly and didn't even have leaves on it to catch the wind, yet it fell prey to the bursts of powerful wind.  The lesson I glean from this is that if I am not humble enough to bow to the mighty power of God, I will surely be broken.

I am grateful that even then God can use my brokenness to restore me to Him.