Blown Off Course
If you have ever had the opportunity to ride in a hot air balloon, then you know the serenity that comes with the experience. After riding in a balloon, you also know that even the most skilled balloon pilot is only partially in control of where the balloon goes and doesn’t go.
About a decade ago we took a balloon ride on a beautiful morning. The quietness as we flew over the scenic countryside was so peaceful. And the beauty, often missed at ground level, was just spectacular. We seemed to just glide across the sky. When it was time to land, even though there were only gentle breezes, we ended up coming down in a field about two miles from our targeted landing spot, not because of the inexperience of the pilot (he was a retired Navy pilot), but rather, because the winds took us there.
It is often the same way as we journey through life. The winds take us places that we never intended, or expected, to go. Sometimes those winds are gentle breezes while other times, they are Category 4 hurricane strength. Stuff happens in life that we just cannot control. You suddenly find yourself a widow or widower, just as you were enjoying being empty nesters. Your aging parent or grown child moves in with you. A major health issue not only changes your life, but it also drains your bank account, money you had planned for retirement years. Cancer. Divorce. Unemployment. Addiction. Any one of those situations takes us off our desired and usually well planned out course, blowing us into a field two miles away, sometimes with a loud thud. Even life’s little inconveniences can occasionally cause us to be blown into unknown territory.
The winds of life are constant. The winds of life are also often cruel. What is here today is often gone tomorrow. What was once normal is no longer, and we are forced to adapt and adjust to a new normal, at least until that too is blown to a new landing spot. Chasing after things constantly blown by the winds of life is fruitless. Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, puts it this way – “The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns” (1:6).
While life is fickle, constantly blown to and from by ever-changing winds, we can be confident that in the midst of constant change, we have a God who is never-changing. He is an infinite, unchangeable Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power, and love. God exists outside the constraints of time. Psalm 33:11 tells is this – “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”
So, no matter how uncertain your life is, how changing the world can be, or how far the winds of life are blowing you from your planned destination, you can always trust in God’s unchanging character, unchanging promises, and unchanging plans.
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