I was awakened between 3 and 4 am one morning this week to the sound of severe wind gusts. A High Wind Warning had been issued the previous day, and I was uneasy when I went to bed, having trouble falling asleep. My concern was founded in personal experience, as I remembered the 2015 windstorm that hit the Spokane area. 

That storm produced winds of 71 mph—just shy of the hurricane velocity of 75. More than 250,000 customers lost electrical power during that storm. By comparison, during the historic ice storm of 1996, 100,000 lost power. The 2015 wind storm downed 1,900 trees in the Spokane city limits alone. It is estimated that thousands more came down in Spokane Valley and across the rest of the county.

And boy, did they come down in our neighborhood. Two of our next-door neighbors had trees fall on their houses. I’ll never forget the frightening boom we heard again and again that night as trees fell around us. We, too, were without power for a week. 

The memory of that storm gave me great concern as I woke up to the sound of the powerful wind gusts. We have five Ponderosa Pines in our yard, each well over 100 feet tall, with trunks over 3 feet in diameter. I admit I felt some fear, and rightly so. The danger was real.

As I lay in bed and listened to the wind howling through our neighborhood, I began to pray. I prayed for the safety of our neighbors—each one I know by name. I prayed for our own safety and for our property. The winds grew stronger and stronger. I could feel the house shake as the gusts intensified. At one point, our bedroom window popped open from the pressure. I jumped out of bed and secured the window. Now I was fully awake.

But as I prayed, my fear turned into awe. I've always been a weather watcher. The reason I love weather—even extreme conditions like thunder, lightning, and heavy snow—is because God controls it all. Consider Job 37:10-13:

         “From the breath of God ice is made, 

         And the expanse of the waters is frozen. 

         Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; 

         He disperses the cloud of His lightning. 

         It changes direction, turning around by His guidance, 

         That it may do whatever He commands it 

         On the face of the inhabited earth. 

         Whether for a correction, or for His world, 

         Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen. 

My prayers then turned to praise. “From the breath of God,” He sends forth the weather. All weather is directed by God and serves His purpose, whether for correction or as a demonstration of His loyal love. The Holy Spirit of God is the One who controls the weather, inspires His Word, and breathes life into our bodies and eternal life into our souls. Indeed, the power of God’s Word, by His Spirit, is the power of creation: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host” (Psalm 33:6). Spirit. Breath. Word. Power. 

Even greater than God's mighty weather events are the God-breathed Scriptures He has given to us. The power of nature is one thing, but it is nothing compared to God’s Word. His Word is “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). 

“All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The very breath through which God directs the weather and delivers His Word is the same—His Spirit. The wind reminded me of God’s incredible Word and brought me comfort. 

As I praised God for His powerful Word, I was reminded of my own life and how God, through His Spirit and His Word, brought transformation. John 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Salvation is a mysterious and mighty work of God.

I really can’t fully describe the changes God has made in my life. Those who meet me for the first time see me as a Christian, a Pastor, a preacher, and a teacher of God’s Word. But they don’t see the changes God’s Word has brought about in my life. That’s okay; I don’t really want them to see what I used to be. Instead, I want them to see Christ.

I am truly not the man I used to be, and neither are you the same person you were before you met Christ. You are a new creation in Him. I was dead but made alive. I was lost, but now am found. I was born of God’s Spirit and transformed into someone completely different from who I once was. So it is for all of us in whom God’s Spirit dwells through faith in Christ. 

You can’t see the wind, but you can see its effects. The same is true for God’s Word and His works. Yes, we see words on a page, but their power to change our lives is the real proof of God’s Spirit. Many of these changes take time because sin is deeply rooted, subtle, and insidious. Our flesh is skilled at hiding and defending itself. 

How does change occur in our lives? It’s through God’s Spirit and God’s Word. It seems so simple, but it requires daily engagement with the Word. It demands time, patience, hard work, study, submission, and obedience. Throughout it all, it is God’s Spirit who provides the means, motives, and power for lasting life change.

As I write this, it is dead calm. The sun is shining. All is calm, all is bright. The storm this week was nothing like 2015, for which I give Him thanks. There is calm after a storm, which of course is also God’s doing. Jesus, the baby born in a manger, was God incarnate. He is the Creator. He is the one who breathes out the weather and breathes out His Word. He breathes new life into our souls.

So, we can be assured that no matter what storms assail us, our God is a mighty fortress. We need not fear the strong winds, for our Savior calms the storm. 

Christmas is that special time of calm. The scene of Jesus' birth soothes our souls in the midst of a chaotic world. Please take time to enjoy the peace our Savior provides as you recall His love and power as the Word of God Incarnate.

Merry Christmas, Valley Bible Church. May the incarnate Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, “equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:21). He will accomplish this by His Spirit through His written Word.

All is calm, all is bright…sleep in heavenly peace.