Years
ago a farmer owned land
along the Atlantic
seacoast. He constantly
advertised for hired
hands. Most people were
reluctant to work on
farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful
storms that raged across
the Atlantic, wreaking
havoc on the buildings
and crops.
As
the farmer interviewed
applicants for the job,
he received a steady
stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin
man, well past middle age,
approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm
hand?" the farmer
asked him. Well, I can
sleep when the wind blows,"
answered the little man. Although puzzled by this
answer, the farmer,
desperate for help, hired
him.
The
little man worked well
around the farm, busy
from dawn to dusk, and
the farmer felt satisfied
with the man's work. Then
one night the wind howled
loudly in from offshore.
Jumping out of bed, the
farmer grabbed a lantern
and rushed next door to
the hired hand's sleeping
quarters.
He
shook the little man and
yelled, "Get up! A
storm is coming! Tie
things down before they
blow away!" The
little man rolled over in
bed and said firmly,
"No sir. I told you,
I can sleep when the wind
blows."
Enraged
by the response, the
farmer was tempted to
fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried
outside to prepare for
the storm. To his
amazement, he discovered
that all of the haystacks
had been covered with
tarpaulins. The cows were
in the barn, the chickens
were in the coops, and
the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly
secured. Everything was
tied down. Nothing could
blow away. The farmer
then understood what his
hired hand meant, so he
returned to his bed to
also sleep while the wind
blew.
When you're prepared,
spiritually, mentally,
and physically, you have
nothing to fear. Can you
sleep when the wind blows
through your life? The
hired hand in the story
was able to sleep because
he had secured the farm
against the storm. We, as
believers in Christ,
secure ourselves against
the storms of life by
grounding ourselves in
the Word of God. We don't
need to understand, we
just need to hold His
hand to have peace in the
midst of the storms. See you in
church.
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