When Life's Winds Blow

The sound of a large tree crashing in the woods behind our Southern Pines home woke me before daybreak on a recent Saturday.

Hurricane Hanna assailed the North Carolina coast, brought over six inches of rain to parts of Moore County, and left a scar in our neck of the woods.

After that falling tree interrupted my sleep, I glanced at our clock and saw “5:46 a.m.” in digital, glow-in-the-dark numbers. I heard rain descending in torrents and figured a diseased or dead tree had become waterlogged and fallen prey to the amount of wind needed to bring it down. Then I wondered if maybe that tree had been healthy, but, due to a weak root system and wet ground, its water-weary top-parts “gave up the ghost” and plummeted to the forest floor.

I often see “the human predicament” reflected in nature, and in the few minutes between hearing that tree fall and drifting back to sleep, I envisioned that tree as a person, a person overwhelmed by life’s storms.

I suppose most of us at times experience discouragements that can cause us to feel as though we want to give up, quit resisting life’s wayward winds and fall over in defeat.

When difficulties come, I try to reaffirm my belief that God has my life in his hands and that my successes and failures are his to use to mold me into a person of positive purpose.

When trials arrive, I sometimes recall these words from “Stand by Me,” a hymn written in 1905 by Charles A. Tindley, an African-American:

“When the storms of life are raging, stand by me…When the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea, Thou Who rulest wind and water, stand by me.”

That song’s second verse can comfort those who feel isolated:

“In the midst of faults and failures, stand by me…When I do the best I can, and my friends misunderstand, Thou Who knowest all about me, stand by me.”

The third verse addresses opposition:

“In the midst of persecution, stand by me…When my foes in battle array, undertake to stop my way, Thou Who saved Paul and Silas, stand by me.”

The final verse of Tindley’s hymn serves as a prayer for a person negotiating old age:

“When I’m growing old and feeble, stand by me…When my life becomes a burden, and I’m nearing chilly Jordan, O Thou ‘Lilly of the Valley,’ stand by me.”

As a teenager, I sometimes heard the Rev. R.B. Hayes sing “No, Never Alone” at Faith Temple Church in Taylors, S.C. Hayes, elderly and thin when I heard him sing, could touch hearts when he intoned that hymn, which was written in 1897 by Ludie D. Picket. The song contains these words:

“I’ve seen the lightning flashing, and heard the thunder roll. I’ve felt sin’s breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul; I’ve heard the voice of my Savior, telling me still to fight on. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.”

As Hayes sang that song, I’d hear a few “amens” and see some folk raise hands as he launched into the high notes that conveyed these words in that hymn’s chorus:

“No, never alone. No, never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.”

Another verse contains these words:

“The world’s fierce winds are blowing, temptation’s sharp and keen. I have a peace in knowing my Savior stands between – He stands to shield me from danger, when earthly friends are gone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.”

As the world’s winds blow, I often draw comfort from these words: “…for he (Jesus) hath said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee’” (Hebrews 13:5).