Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:1-3

We recently experienced some strange weather and storms in our area. Well its been in the whole world that we have been experiencing strange weather phenomenon, but that is a devo for another day ; )

One of our most recent storms happened in the Town where we go to church and where our favorite little pizza place is. We went to have lunch at our Pizza Place the day after the storm and the owner, Paul (whom we adore) shared with us how quickly and severely this storm blew up. We could see the leaves of the trees, even a day later, littering the roadways and parking lots.

Paul showed us the limbs that came down and, thank you God, did almost no damage to his building at all. But that wasn’t the case in other areas. As we drove to church we saw trees that had given way to the strength of the wind and fallen down. Where some of the trees were able to withstand the wind, yet their limbs could not and large limbs littered yards and the edges of the road. There were even some large limbs that had done severe damage to homes and vehicles, when they could no longer sustain the force of the wind and rain.

It was a little odd to ride along and see trees that showed incredible strength and endurance, that had simply bent and swayed in the wind never breaking, and yet there were others of the same type and similar size, that lacked the strength and ability to withstand the onslaught of abuse that this storm inflicted. But one of the things that seemed to be evident was that the limbs that had fallen were not typically little twigs, they were the larger, stronger branches that were more exposed and reached further out away from the trunk of the tree and from the roots.

As we drove by tree after tree It made me think about an old hymn that we used to sing. This song, says “Jesus is my Savior I shall not be moved; In His love and favor, I shall not be moved, just like a tree that’s planted by the waters, Lord, I shall not be moved.” The refrain simply says, “I shall not be, I shall not be moved; I shall not be, I shall not be moved; Just like a tree that’s planted by the waters, Lord, I shall not be moved.”

The words of this hymn hold so much hope, strength and truth and it is a family favorite. It has even proven to be an anthem for us at times.

At the church that we attended where most of our family first came to know the Lord, they gave alter calls. That means that they would say, “if you want to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, come down front and we would love to pray with, over and for you”. And when God moved on your heart and you wanted to pray that prayer you would go down by the pulpit and members of the church would just pour out of the pews to pray with you and welcome you into the family of God. It was absolutely beautiful.

They also required you, prior to being baptized, to give a small testimony in front of the entire congregation. This would include describing your life before Christ and the glorious work that He was now doing in your life.

So, our oldest son (once he came to know the Lord) had to give his testimony to the church because he desired being baptized. He was only about 11 or 12, not a bold young man, he is a lot like his mother and doesn’t like being the center of attention and he was just generally very anxious and insecure. Well the day that he was to give his testimony, he and his sisters and I sang this hymn all the way to church and he drew so much strength from those words that he breezed right through his testimony and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. He was a tree planted by the water.

We are going to go through storms in this life. Maybe financial trials, perhaps the death of a close friend or family member, a prodigal son or daughter who walked away from us and the Lord or just a simple dry spell in our spiritual walk in which we don’t feel as close to God as we once did. But just like the trees in this storm, if we reach to far out away from the shelter of the other branches (our brothers and sisters in Christ) and away from the strength of the trunk (our Heavenly Father) and the living water (Jesus) that is drawn up through the roots, we will lose strength.

In our own strength we will not Bend and Sway in the crushing wind and rains of the storm we will snap and break. But, if we stay close to the Father, take shelter within the other branches that are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and drink of the living water that is our Precious Savior, we can endure any storm.

After all, our Savior can control those winds and waves with the sound of His voice (A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. Mark 4:37-39)

I pray that today and every day, we would cling to the trunk, take shelter amongst the branches and drink of the living water, so that when those storms come, we would simply Bend and Sway!

If you do not know our Precious Savior as Lord and are not sure how you will endure this or the next storm that blows through your life, I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page and pray the prayer that is outlined there. When you do, please reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-N-Loved.com and let me know, so that I can be in prayer for you and hopefully help you to grow in your relationship and knowledge of the Lord.

Luv Ya!