Blown in the wind

One year a plough wind came through the summer camp where I was working. It was over in just a few minutes yet left behind unbelievable destruction. Huge trees had their trunks twisted and uprooted. Some had their tops half sheared right off.

Jeremiah presents us with this image of a powerful wind. It’s not wind that will winnow or cleanse by steadily blowing away chaff and dust and dirt, but a wind that destroys nearly everything in its path.

These are painful images for anyone whose home or community has been touched by disaster. They’re painful images for anyone who has been blown about or worn down by life’s challenges; for those who have faced times that brought them to their knees or forced them to run for cover.

Once the storm has passed, it’s not always easy to see the path to rebuilding. The truth is, life on the other side of the storm will not be the same. And yet, we hold on to that one word of hope in this prophetic judgment: God will not make a full end.

God of power and might, in the midst of life's storms, help me to hold fast to your promise of life on the other side. Amen. — LS