This past weekend, we loaded up the family and headed to Lubbock to celebrate our 22 years of marriage. We had some errands to run and also had a nice dinner together – all 5 of us. It was nice to all be together for an afternoon.
One of the errands we had to make was a return to Lowe’s Home Improvement. We had purchased some lights for the house and decided to go with a different style so we had a box to return. Since we had no other business in the store, the family decided to just wait in the car.
If you live in west Texas, you know that the last few days have given us horrible winds – sustained 35 to 40 miles per hour both Saturday and Sunday. I mention that fact because after fighting the wind to get back to the car, I found my family watching a run away shopping cart. A lady had pushed the cart to her vehicle, unloaded her items and instead of taking care of business and putting the cart in the cart bin, she simply left it sitting in the parking lot and drove away.
The wind began pushing the cart to the east. By the time I got to the car, it had already traveled about 50 yards across the parking lot. So I joined the amusement and began to watch the cart as well. It was headed to the east side of the parking lot where it would be stopped by the curb. But a very surprising thing happened, as it neared the east side of the parking lot, it veered to the left – turning toward the exit. Part of this was due to the contour of the parking lot but much was due to the driving swirling wind.
It continued to travel, moving closer and closer to the exit of the parking lot and my mouth fell open. It turned again to the right and exited the parking lot, headed directly across the access road and ended up in the ditch on the other side – still upright.
Cars had to slow down and swerve to miss the cart as it meandered across the heavily trafficked access road. It was quite a sight to watch. We laughed in amazement and yes, felt a bit guilty that we didn’t try to do something (honestly, we never thought it would cross the street and by the time we realized it was going to, it was too late.)
As I have mused over that event, I have been reminded of the power of the wind. Scripture talks about the wind in many different contexts. But the one that seems applicable today is the passage in which we are told not to be tossed by the waves and driven here and there by each blowing wind (you can read it here).
We need to be grounded in our beliefs and convictions. We need to know what we hold on to and remember who we trust. Otherwise, we will be just like that shopping cart – blown right out into traffic and end up in a ditch.
Hold fast to your faith – even in the midst of the storm!
Clay in the Hands 