Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Can you sleep while the wind blows?

 

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 secure ourselves against the storms of life by surounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms. 


A friend of mine sent this to me today, and I enjoyed it so much, that I wanted to share it here on my blog. It was just what I needed today after getting some disturbing news yesterday. 

I hope you enjoy your day and you sleep well.

Marinda van der Brugghen

 


 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great message. And it seems to have such a relevance to it. "Be prepared!" That's good advice. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

That is a wonderful story Marinda. I loved it. ~Wendy

Bernard Tritz said...

Hi Marinda
Thanks for this piece of wisdom. Me too I needed to hear , or read, this. Today you are in my prayers.
Take care
Bernard

Eddie Garcia said...

Being prepared is something we all need to do in this physical life, but if we are not prepared spiritually we will be in BIG mess. No one wants to spend eternity separated from their Creator, but many will because they did not prepare in advance. Great story and I enjoy reading it over and over again. Thanks for sharing! I pray you will be comforted by our heavenly Father after receiving your disturbing news.

Unknown said...

I hope you don't mind if I share this with my friends. It is a really great message.

Julie McClelland said...

Perfect Marinda - life is about being as prepared as we can be for what life throws our way.

Thank you for sharing.
Julie :-)