“The Wind in our Face”
April 26, 2009
Hebrews 12:1-4, 2 Timothy 3:14
“Well, the snow is just about melted off of Black Butte. The old timers in this area keep a watch on the conditions on Black Butte to determine when they can plant or not. Last week, with the temperatures in the mid 80’s, a lot of us ran out and bought some flowers and seeds and were ready to start planting. The old timers say don’t plant until all the snow is off of Black Butte. But who could resist getting the garden ready. At Weed Building Supply, we sold a lot of seed and rakes and garden stuff. Bob, the Master Gardener, was smart, tho. He built a planter box that he could close up if it got too cold. A lot of people lost of a lot of plants because they didn’t pay attention to those ‘Old Timer’s’ advice.
An old poet by the name of Rutherford, wrote:
“God has called you to Christ’s side, and the wind is now in your face in this land; and seeing you are with Him, you cannot expect the lee side or the sunny side of the brae.”
You understand what the sunny side of the brae is, don’t you. A brae is an old English word for hill. Sometime, about this time of the year, you can look up at Mount Shasta, or Black Butte, or one of the hills around here and see all the snow melted off of one side. That’s the sunny side. For us, in this hemisphere, it is the southern side that gets most of the sun. The northern side is in the shade and consequently still is cold and has snow on the upper elevations.
I like the sunny side of the hill, don’t you? I like to ‘sing in the sunshine and laugh every day”, as an old song goes. But, life isn’t like that is it? Sometimes we have to live on the shady side for awhile.
Have you ever heard the old timers talk about the great blizzard of ’82 or ’85? When I was young they talked about the great blizzard of ’02 or ’04 – or whatever year it was. I heard and read about those great blizzards that would catch the ranchers unprepared and destroy many of them. Hundreds of thousands of cattle and horses were killed. The year it happened varies. The destruction tally varies. The number of days the storm rages varies. But one thing is constant. It was a terrible time. It was a tragic time. It was the ruin and death of many men and cattle.
The reason for the great devastation was more than the freezing temperatures; it was more than the length of the storm; it was more than the huge amount of storm that fell. Maybe it was a combination of all those things. But the old timers say that when it first started snowing the cowboys waded through the snow and fed the cattle hay. Pretty soon it got so cold and snowed so much that some of the ranch hands were lost in the blizzard and died. After a while, the cattle couldn’t be fed. The winds blew with a terrible force. The snow continued to pile up.
At first the cattle could find shelter on the leeward side of things. After awhile, that got filled up with snow and the cattle started drifting with the wind. The put their backs to the wind and it pushed them along. For awhile the fences stopped them. Then the snow packed and piled up so high that the fences were covered. The cattle put their backs to the wind and slowly were pushed farther and farther from home. They went with the wind over fences and across streams and off their pastures. After awhile they began to die from the cold and starvation.
When the storm was over, they lay piled up in frozen heaps – some hundreds of miles from home. Why did they die? They turned they backs to the wind and took the path of least resistance to their doom. Cattle and horses don’t like to face the wind. You will see them turn their backs to the storm, hang their heads down, and go with the wind – sometimes to their own destruction.
We have that tendency, too. We like to put our backs to the wind and hide our faces and go the way of least resistance. I remember doing that a time or two in those cold Minnesota storms. I would turn my back to the wind and if it was blowing in the way I wanted to go – I got and easy ride. If it was in the opposite direction, I backed my way home.
Most all of us don’t like to face into the wind. Our tendency is to take the path of least resistance. We like the sunny side of the hill. When the storms of life come upon us – many of us hide. Some dull the pain with drugs or alcohol. Some times we get lost in novels and TV and shallow forms of entertainment - to get a little relief from the storm. We Christians can’t do that. God did not give us that option. Let me share three things with you that you can do when the storms come into your life.
First, face into the wind. Storms are going to come. The bible says,
“The fact of the matter is that everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 2 Timothy 3:12
We can’t avoid it. We are promised that troubles will come. And we can’t take the easy way. The poem we read earlier said, “…seeing you are with Him, you cannot expect the lee side or the sunny side of the brae.” Folks, the wind is in Jesus’ face, and if we go with Him – it will be in our face, too. Don’t expect anything less.
Have you ever read “War of the Worlds”? If you haven’t read it – you may have seen it on TV. Back in 1938 Orson Wells did it on radio and people really thought aliens were invading our planet. In 2005 about the hundredth remake of it was done. Some of you saw that, I’m sure. It’s pretty exciting to think that aliens would invade our world. It’s pretty frightening. But something much more exciting and frightening is going on right now – all around us. We are in a literal “War of the Worlds”. Heaven and earth are in a terrible struggle right now. Jesus is the commander-in-chief of heaven’s forces and Satan is the Prince of the power of earth. They are locked in a deadly struggle with no compromise. And we are caught in the middle of enemy territory. We are on enemy soil, right now. The foe out numbers us. The enemy has the advantage of the media, the legal system, the schools, and just about everything else on earth. The “War of the Worlds” is going on all around us and we find ourselves surrounded by the enemy on every front.
We are being bombarded with the enemies’ philosophies, with his doctrine, with his tempting offers to defect. Truly the wind is in our faces. It is raging with hurricane force and the only way out is to face it – grit our teeth, bend our shoulders, and keep moving forward. We need to start marching into the wind with a determination that nothing is going to stop us. Nothing is going to slow us down. Nothing is going to hinder us from reaching the goal and taking the prize. We must ‘march as if we are marching to war’ as the old hymn says. The wind will howl. The enemy will scream at us and taunt us. He will put snares and traps out there for us. We WILL suffer persecution and trouble – because we are in the Lord’s army. But we must face into the wind and march ahead. We must go on!
The second thing we must do is to trust our fate to Jesus. Jesus was a realist. Nowhere in the gospels do we find him telling us we will live on the sunny side of the hill and sing in the sunshine all the time. I’m looking forward to doing that some time in the future. But Jesus told His followers the whole truth and let them make up their minds. He might grieve over the retreating form of someone who would not face up to the truth – but He never ran after him to win him back with rosy promises. John recorded one such occasion.
“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” John 6:66
I don’t read where Jesus ran after them or promised them a cozy home on the sunny side of life. Another occasion this happened was with the rich young ruler. When this young man learned the cost of following Jesus, the bible says “he went away sorrowing.” Jesus allowed him to make up his own mind. He didn’t run Him down or compromise His message.
I’m afraid that is what we usually do, tho. If someone weakens and decides not to follow because they are not willing to pay the price – we run after them begging him to reconsider. Now, don’t get me wrong. We need to go after the lost and the backslidden – but we should never compromise the message of the Bible. But we do. We lower the price of entrance into heaven – which is total sacrifice. We paint beautiful pictures and lower requirements. But the price is the same. It takes our all. We must be willing to give up all; we must be willing to die. We must be willing to stand against the crowd or anyone or anything else – if we would follow Jesus. The way, Jesus said, is straight and narrow. And there are still only a few that will find that way. Jesus wants valiant men and women to follow Him. Men and women that know the cost – and will still follow. Or He would let them go their way. You are free to turn back if you want to.
All of this is to simply say, Jesus is honest. We can trust Him. He knows that He will never be popular with the world – and He knows that His followers need not expect to be popular either. The wind that blows in His face will be felt by everyone who travels with Him. He wants followers who will walk with Him anyway. Followers who will follow when He walks against the wind and camps in the shady side of the hill for awhile. He wants people who will not give up or burn out along the way.
Are you with Him? Are you willing to follow anyway? Let me share one final thing to do when the storms of life come into your life. 3. Understand it will be worth it. Jesus is not into instant gratification and immediate success. But there are a few things that are sound, genuine and desirable in following Him. Jesus offers forgiveness of sin. He offers an inward cleansing. He offers peace with God. He offers eternal life. He promises to send the Holy Spirit. There is victory over temptation, a glorified body, immortality, and a dwelling place in the house of the Lord with great honor and glory.
Those are just a few benefits that come as a result of placing our faith in Jesus and totally committing our lives to Him. Add to that the wonders and glories that will be ours throughout eternity and we get kind of a vague idea of what Paul called the unsearchable riches of Christ. We get an idea of an eternity so great we can’t begin to comprehend it. The Holy Spirit gives us a glimpse – just a taste – but it is so wonderful it is beyond comprehension.
When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, it truly changes us. But we must remember that it doesn’t change the world. The wind still blows toward hell – and the man or woman who is walking in the opposite direction will always have the wind in his face. We better take that into account when we consider spiritual things. If the unsearchable riches of Christ are not worth suffering for; not worth sacrificing our lives for; we should realize it and stop playing at religion.
When the rich young ruler learned the cost of the walk with Jesus – he turn back. When the people learned Jesus wasn’t not going to give them another dinner – many left Him. But in every age there are a few who refuse to go back. The Acts of the Apostles is a record of men and women who turned their faces into the stiff wind of persecution and sacrifice and followed the Lamb wherever He went. Many of them lost homes, families, and their lives because of their stand.
My prayer is that you will be brave enough; strong enough; wise enough; to follow Jesus anywhere; through wind and storm; through sun or shade. It is my prayer that you will see the victory up ahead and be willing to pay any price and make any sacrifice - to get it. Can we make that kind of commitment today?
Heavenly Father,
I believe in You. I trust You. Thank you, Jesus, for being patient with me. Thank you for forgiving me. I confess, I am so weak and easily swayed. I have not resisted “unto blood”. Please give me strength. Pour Your Holy Spirit on me that I might have power to stand against the wind.
“Onward Christian Soldiers”
