Two guys were standing inside a building of a local theme park. They were looking outside, and it was 
an extremely windy day.
The area’s custodian, the one who had the job of sweeping up debris, was a very small woman (4’10″& 90 lbs) and she was having a rough time trying not to be blown away. When she asked her park manager what she should do, he replied: “You have a warm down jacket don’t you? Well put rocks in all the pockets!”
Then a minister, who was standing nearby, suggested she say a little prayer to ask the Lord to help her cope with the wind.
Then the park clown suggested she could kill two birds with one stone by saying the prayer she said each night. He said, “You know, the one that goes:’ Now I weigh me down to sweep…‘”
LOL!
All of us have “windy days,” don’t we? Days that threaten to knock us off our feet. Days that cause debris to flurry around us. Days that feel like hurricanes. All we want to do is survive.
Here are three ways to cope with the strong winds that blow through your life.
1. Be sure you are “weighted” correctly. At the park manager’s suggestion, the woman placed rocks in her pockets to help weigh her down. The Rock that is our secure foundation on “windy” days is the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:4; Matthew 7:24-25). We are founded on Jesus Christ, and we continue to build our lives on Him. His Word will help us stand in the storm and in every circumstance, and we will find our faith strengthened in the process.
2. Call out to God. The pastor’s advice in the humorous story above is certainly good counsel. When the winds of adversity come, cry out to the Lord (Psalm 57:2). Either the Lord will make the winds subside, just as He calmed the storm in Mark 4:37-40 – replacing fear with faith and giving you peace – or He will help you go through the storm as He did for Paul in Acts 27:14-44. He will deliver you out of your troubles (Psalm 37:17).
3. Rest in the Lord. The clown’s advice, though silly, had a bit of truth in it. He mentioned her bedtime prayers, suggesting the idea of sleep. Instead of fretting, we can rest knowing that God never slumbers (Psalm 121:3-5). He’s always watching, always aware of what’s going on in His children’s lives (Psalm 91:1, 5). We can “lie down and sleep in peace” (Psalm 4:8). But that “rest” continues even when we are awake (Psalm 37:7); we can have God’s peace all day long (John 14:27).
The One who is our “Refuge and Strength” is a “very present help in trouble,” and the secret of abiding in His peace is to “Be still” and know that He is who He says He is – the God of the universe (Psalm 46:1, 10a); and if God is for us, who or what can be against us? (Romans 8:31, 35, 37-39)
Who then is this that even the wind obeys Him? (Mark 4:41) It is Jesus, the Mighty God, our Refuge and Peace. I don’t know about you, but it helps me to know that God is in control of all things, even my Windy Days. Have you found this to be true?
But God wants more of our time. It’s all His anyway. The Psalmist said, “Hour by hour I place my days in your hand…” (Psalm 31:15, The Message).
But I also need planned “retreat days” too. One definition of the word retreat is, “a period of seclusion, retirement or solitude, especially to pray, meditate, or study.” In military terms, it’s a time of falling back … a time to regroup and rethink before entering the battle again.
included
can get so intense, they feel like work; so allow yourself some down time. Think like a child.)
house has to be “immaculate” for guests.
