The North Wind and the Sun

The North Wind and the Sun had an argument one day. They disputed which of them was the stronger. A traveler came along the road at that time, and the Sun suggested a way to resolve the argument. Whoever was able to cause the traveler to remove his coat would be the stronger. The Wind accepted the challenge and the Sun hid himself behind a cloud. The Wind began to blow. Yet the harder he blew, the more the traveler clutched his coat about himself. the Wind sent rain, even hail. The traveler clung even more desperately to his coat. Finally, in despair, the Wind gave up. The Sun came out and began to shine in all his glory upon the traveler. Quite soon the man had removed his coat. "How did you do that?" asked the Wind. "It was easy," said the Sun. "I lit the day. Through gentleness I got my way."

Something about this struck me when I read it today. I remember hearing it when I was younger, but never really got anything out of it. Funny, I can see so many areas where it can apply now. Church, friends, life. Isn't this what God calls us to do? When the bad times come, aren't we supposed to cling to him more? When the wind blows more fiercely than it ever has before, shouldn't we weather through it and wait for the sun to come through? It's amazing how easily we lose sight of that; how when one thing goes wrong, we tend to just lose hope and stop waiting for the good to come out again.

But guess what? It does. And even if we feel that nothing else can go wrong, it usually does. But in the end, it's all for a purpose, we just can't give up. If we give up, we give up faith as well. We begin to doubt, and to pity ourselves. But if we keep even an ounce of faith, and continue believing what we know is true, God will begin to unveil the things that we are here for. He'll begin showing us things we never dreamed were possible, and He'll begin showing us that faith really can move mountains, just not the type of mountains we think need moving.

And above all, He'll show us our hearts and invite us to share in this amazing mystery with him.