Let The Wind Blow

When I first gave my life to Christ, back in 1981 I discovered a Contemporary Christian group that became one of my favorite groups and to this day, I still love going back and listening to their songs. That group was the Imperials. They had many songs over the years that really spoke to me... far more than I could go into in one blog entry. For tonight, I'm only going to mention a couple. One of my favorite songs was and is "I'd Rather Believe in You." A friend introduced me to this song within a few weeks of the time I gave my life to Christ. I was struggling with addictions at the time, and was in the midst of fighting out my legal battles which I knew was going to end with my going to prison; the only question being, "for how long?"  I did not have a lot of Christian friends at that time. The fact is, I did not have a lot of friends. When I got arrested most of my "friends" distanced themselves from me real fast. What few friends I had left were trying to be supportive and give me advice, but their perspective was different than mine. I was now a born again Christian and they were coming from the perspective of the old man who had been put to death the night I asked Jesus to take over my life. We butted heads a lot as they advised me to go get drunk or high. One guy was telling me that I should just "disappear" and go on the run. I'd try to explain that I was changed, but they just did not get it. So when my friend Jeremy Beaver played this song for me, it clicked in my spirit and has been there ever since. The song's lyrics speak of caring friends who called with answers, but their ways just not working for me. Then the chorus said, "Yes, Lord, I'd rather believe in You."  For the past almost 34 years I've been singing that song. Well meaning and caring people still offer advice and strategy to me... but I'd rather put my trust in the Lord.

Another song that came out a few years later than that was "Let the Wind Blow."  I'll be honest, it was the music that first drew me to this song. But then I began singing it and paying a lot more attention to the lyrics. The song is basically saying that storms are going to come into our lives, and we will never stop that from happening. The reality is that even Christians face dark, stormy, trying times. But that in the midst of the storm we can trust in the Lord of love no matter how strong the wind blow, how long they blow or how frequently they blow. In it all and through it all, we can trust in the Prince of Peace. 

Over the past couple of weeks I've been singing these two songs a whole lot more again. The wife of a very dear friend of mine was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I'll admit, when the doctor walked in and spoke those words to us, it was like a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightening went off within me. It shook me for a few seconds. But then, even as he was still in that hospital room talking with the 3 of us, in my spirit I was already saying, "I'd rather believe in You!"  As soon as he walked out of the room, I said to my friends, "We've heard his report, but let's stand on God's report." Yes, they are walking through a storm... a BIG one! But we are trusting in the Prince of Peace. No matter what the situation or circumstances say, no matter how hard the wind blows in this storm, we will stand and say, "Yes, Lord, I'd rather believe in you!"