Hoist the Sails

God must have a sense of humor. I spent some time traveling this week back to Paradise to minister to my former secretary as she had major back surgery. After spending the night I turned around to drive back to Seminole.

While driving west on I-20 I was listening to a message from Louie Giglio about hoisting the sails of our lives and letting the wind of God blow us where He wants. As I listened to this message I literally was dodging tumbleweeds and fighting a strong head wind as a wind storm swept through west Texas. There were winds clocked as high as 68 miles per hour here in Seminole. At times the dust was so thick I could barely see the truck in front of me.

It is ironic or should I say a divine appointment that I would see the power of the wind while I was listening to a message about the power of the Holy Spirit to blow our lives and to use our lives for His purposes. The Holy Spirit is the wind in our sails.

Today while driving around town I noticed a few things the wind had damaged like trees, signs, and Christmas decorations. The power of the Holy Spirit can empower us to do great things and have great impact like the winds had this past Tuesday. Yet some of us live less than empowered lives because the sails of our lives are never hoisted. We keep them lowered and spend much of our Christian lives drifting. We want to chart our own courses and determine our own directions.

If we as the people of God could hoist the sails of our lives and let God fill those sails with the wind of His Spirit what He could do in us and through us. He could blow us to Kingdom assignments, witnessing opportunities, missions endeavors, and opportunities to give like so many of us are experiencing this Christmas season.

I am not going to say that I do it right all the time but I have sought to live with the sails of my life hoisted to the wind of God. That is exactly why I sit writing this at my desk in Seminole, TX as opposed to Paradise, TX. When I really made my life available to God day after day He drew me, called me, and blew me here. There is so much ministry to do here. Just today I got to pray for a saint struggling with a heavy burden, counsel a single mother about her daughter, minister to a grieving family over the loss of a loved one, eat breakfast with a man struggling in his marriage, and meet a couple of fellow ministers out working in the ministry.

When I woke today one of my prayers was to present this day before the Lord and allow Him to blow me wherever He wanted. It has been a good day. When we hoist the sails of our lives we never know where He will blow us next. I never imagined myself being blown to West Texas but I am enjoying the blossoming ministry that God is growing right beneath my feet. It is a blessing to serve Him and to be on mission for Him.

We never know what God will do through a life wholly surrendered to Him. We never know the people we will encounter, the needs God will use us to meet, and the role we will play in building His kingdom. My challenge for all of us is to hoist the sails and allow God to blow us wherever He pleases. God is settling the Edwards clan in west Texas. We have been baptized by wind. We have survived the dust and the gale force winds. From this vantage point God can blow me personally and FBC Seminole corporately to the far ends of the earth. The sails are hoisted and God awaits to send us on assignment for Him. Bring on the wind. We eagerly wait to be pushed by the wind of God and empowered to serve Him.